The Biohazard Conspiracies
by Nate Aledor
Summary: Set after the events of Raccoon City, this anthology focuses on original characters whose fates intertwined with Umbrella or their viral legacy. Will update with a new part as I can. Feel free to R&R. Contructive thoughts and criticisms welcome.
1. Prologue: Highway to Hell

RESIDENT EVIL **BIOHAZARD CONSPIRACY**

Forward:

I have decided to reformat all four stories into one to keep the flow uninterrupted. All the stories are not all from the point of view of one single individual, but each story is unique to someone. Highway to Hell was my first story that I ever wrote and originally was comprised of five separate stories with different lead characters interweaving throughout. I had long since melded those stories and cut out the erroneous sub plots; hence "director's cut". Highway also contains material that some may find offensive, such as male/male innuendo, violence and extreme gore.

Furthermore, I do not own or distribute Resident Evil or claim any royalties.

**Introduction to Evil.**

Horror exists in our minds, plaguing us with preposterous concepts and images that defy any normal sense of reason. Do the dead ever return? It's horror and terror.

The fear of death, of bodily harm at the hands of some psychopath is terror, the feeling that someone is following you home in the middle of the night, waiting for you to stick your key in the lock, to strike. Fear of being dead, fear of the dead, of deadness, is horror. The idea of death's tangibility. The possibility that death can be seen… this is horror.

It's a great and fundamental irony, that we can fear the dead as much as death. The only thing that horrifies us as much as death, is those who might somehow escape it, or even those who could bring about that escape. It's Frankenstein and his creation, the hideous Monster that terrorizes 'the village'.

Awe is always an element of true horror. Animals feel terror, but they can't experience horror; it's a human sensibility, unique to our way of thinking. Horror informs us that our concepts of reality are incomplete, that something impossible can actually happen. The indescribable and the inexplicable tend to awaken a sort of nebulous panic in us, a suspicion that the universe is even stranger and more uncertain than we ever imagine it can be.

**Highway to Hell: Director's Cut**

**Prologue: Welcome to the world of survival horror.**

June 2000

I was wasting time in the afternoon, waiting for a phone call. I had spent a long time in training, training to become an R.C.M.P. officer and was waiting for _the call._ A call that would mean a new start on a new career path.

The phone rang and I answered it, my voice quivering slightly.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nate, how's it goin'?"

The caller's voice was recognizable, but I couldn't place it.

"I'm doing good…who is this?"

"It's Devan."

Devan Kincaid, Journalist extraordinaire. At least _he_ thought so. It had been a long time since i had heard from him.

"Nate, I know it's been a while, but I'm coming into the city tomorrow."

I could feel the apprehension in his voice... a nervousness. It had been a long time since we'd last seen each other, yet alone spoke.

"I'd love to see you again… when, will you be in?"

"Two-_ish_."

I smiled, though I knew he couldn't see it.

"I don't want you to stay at a cheap hotel…. stay here, unless you have other..." he cut me off.

"That'll be great. Hey man, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

_Click._

It was strange, I hadn't talked to Dev in over a year, not since he went to do a story somewhere in the states. He told me it was big, involving some pharmaceutical company in a city called 'Raccoon'.

It still hurt when he left, and even worse when he dropped from contact all together.

The phone rang again and I answered, still in a state of shock from Devan's a moment before. It was the call I was waiting for, a call that told me I was hired; when to go down to the R.C.M.P. office and pick up my new uniform, my assignment and a car.

They had told me that I would be doing traffic work along the highway, but that they would give me a car, almost a week ahead of schedule. I still don't know why, but I wasn't going to complain. I guess it's something to do with 'backup'. If they need someone desperately, they can call the 'Rookie', 'cause he's got a car and nothin' to do. Whatever the intent, I'd still do it.

I called a taxi and waited in front of my house, thinking about 'Raccoon'. The cab rolled up and I climbed in, absent-mindedly saying hello to the driver.

What had happened to Raccoon City? I knew it, I just couldn't remember.

It hit me suddenly and I laughed aloud, drawing a strange reaction from the cabbie. Raccoon City was a crater. It was a smoldering hole in the side of the Earth, with enough radiation to put Chernobyl to shame.

The government had done it, something about a virus, Ebola or Anthrax or something.

The car lurched to a stop and the cabby spun to face me in the backseat. "Ten-fifty…"

I gave him eleven dollars, ignoring his attempts to give me change and stepped out of the car.

Entering the main doors, I was greeted by a friendly voice, asking if I could be assisted and I nodded, flashing a quick grin. I said that I had an appointment with Chief Madington and the receptionist smiled, pointing at a door partially ajar.

I spent an hour, talking with the large man as he droned on about procedures and jurisdiction.

I knew all this stuff, but it was obvious that he needed to do it. I wanted to get to work. I wanted my uniform, my weapon and my car, and to get away from this city.

I wanted to be official, but more importantly I needed a new start.

Madington took me on a short tour of the station, ending in a locker room. He opened one and pulled out a uniform and handed it to me. My name had been neatly stencilled on the door and I smiled inwardly. Reaching in again, he pulled out a sidearm and a belt; and placed them on top of the growing pile in my hands.

We walked down a stairwell to the parking lot, our voices echoing distantly around us as shadows crept along the walls from the flickering neon light. In every instance of silence, I would feel a shiver move up my spine and tickle the back of my neck maliciously.

I had the distinct impression of descending into an unknown, an abyss waiting to engulf me in silence. With a shock of stimuli, Madington opened the heavy door and waved me through, letting it slam loudly behind us.

The underground parking lot was big, though most of the spaces were empty, the vehicles out on patrol. After all, it was the job of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer to patrol everything outside of the Vancouver Municipal area.

Chief Madington gave me the keys, telling me to pop the trunk. Inside was a sheath with a combat shotgun, ammunition cases, a black vest with RCMP in large white letters on the front as well as a black duffel bag.

"Well Silver," he said to me, "you should get the hell outa this place and get to work. You have to report to the Rock Creek branch office in a few days."

I smiled to him, "Thank you sir. I will."

He turned to leave but paused, turning back to me briefly. I thought he was going to say something, but he just gave me a quick smile and left.

I climbed into the driver's seat, adjusting it, checking my mirrors and slipped the key into the ignition.

I paused.

Something was bothering me and I looked around the front seat nervously. It didn't seem right. Shrugging, I flipped open the glove box and found a note, taped to a gleaming Magnum.

_Nate, I can't tell you what you need to know, other than to be careful._ –Chief John Madington

This is getting very strange, I thought.

I turned the key, starting the engine and drove home, confused by my circumstances. I was given my own squad car and enough guns to supply an army. I was only a Rookie. Deep down I knew that I didn't deserve any of it. I was to be pulling drunks off the highway and catching speeders in the middle of nowhere, yet it seemed I was being prepared for a war.

I pulled into the driveway of my house and stopped the engine, reaching next to me to gather my uniform from the passenger seat and stepped out of the car, locking it with the push of a button on the key ring.

I went straight upstairs exhausted, cradling the black and beige bundle in my arms and set it down on a chair next to where I set the Magnum down on my night table.

Devan would be here the next afternoon and in spite of my nagging sense of dread and surprise over the gleaming gift- it was late and I needed some sleep.

He had arrived earlier than expected, catching me off guard. The doorbell rang and I had jumped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my waist, grabbing my watch and my glasses.

Eleven-thirty.

I opened the door and smiled, greeted by the handsome blonde.

"Nathan!!" he beamed, wrapping his arms around me in a friendly embrace.

I held him at arm's length and smiled, looking him over. "Come in, make yourself at home, there's coffee if you want, and even some breakfast that you could warm up…if you're hungry."

He smiled, walking into the kitchen.

"So how did it go, with Chief…'what's his name'?"

I chuckled, "It went great, got my assignment in…" Dev cut me off.

"Rock Creek…."

My jaw dropped. "How did you know that?" I paused, thinking it over for a moment. "And how did you know about the Chief?"

Devan returned to the living room with a steaming mug in his hand.

"I'm going too."

"You are?"

"That police Chief called me…"

"Madington?"

"Yeah. He said that he was sending _you_ and that he wanted me to go, because I knew something about what was going on."

I was confused. Why had Madington contacted Dev?

He continued, "I had a meeting with him this morning. He gave me a black duffel bag and an envelope, telling me not to open it, until I arrived there."

"This is getting weirder and weirder."

Dev nodded, agreeing.

"But then I opened the duffel bag and found guns…even a flak jacket."

I turned to him, "He gave me much of the same, last night…" I stopped and looked myself over, and shook my head with a chuckle. "Pardon me a moment…I should probably put some clothes on..."

Dev smiled mischievously, "Or maybe I should just take mine off."

I could feel the blood racing to my cheeks as I turned away, laughing nervously.

As I ascended the stairs, I could feel Devan's eyes on me, watching me. I didn't even need to look. I just knew.

In my room, I sat on my bed, running my fingers through my dark hair. It was getting longer than I preferred and though it wasn't shaggy, it wasn't exactly regulation for a new recruit.

Dev's never been one to let it grow out, I found myself thinking. He likes his hair short, almost shaved right down, but it suits him. In fact, it looks real good on him.

"Hey Nate?"

I jumped, caught off-guard by Devan's stealthy entry and my musings trailed off.

"Yeah?"

"When are we leaving?"

I turned to the welcomed intruder, unable to answer and I shrugged. "I don't know. I have four days until I need to be there."

"Can we leave tonight?"

I grinned, "Yeah. Why?"

He smiled back. "Still not dressed, eh?"

I laughed, reaching for a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, standing with my back to him as I slipped into them. I didn't see Devan sneaking up behind me and didn't anticipate him to put his arms around me. I turned in his embrace and he kissed me. The type of kiss that everyone wants to experience. Passionate... and long.

"I missed you, Dev. I'm so happy you're back."

He smiled, looking into my blue eyes and leading me to the bed where we fell on top of each other and continued the kiss. Our hands began to explore the areas we had forgotten and time seemed to slow down.

Eternity passed and the pleasure faded, replaced by the intoxication of the moment. My body was unwilling to move, my energy depleted, yet I was full of a vigour, which compelled me to sit up.

I looked at Dev laying next to me, naked, though the lower half of his body hidden beneath the sheets on my bed.

"We should get ready..." I said to him, stroking the bare skin of his back as he lay on his stomach, "Dev…" I paused, but he knew what I was feeling. He smiled to me, as if I was the only living thing for miles.

I stood up and Devan stirred as well. "That thing is huge!"

I struggled to maintain myself and looked over at him on the bed, staring at the gun on the bedside table. I laughed. "Yeah... I guess it is, isn't it?"

Devan slipped into clothes he had taken from my closet and I threw on a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt that clung to my frame.

"Didn't bring enough clothes of your own?" I asked with a snicker, as he slipped a belt through the loops of the black jeans.

He smiled at me as if to answer. It was that smile which freezes me in place, though with a warmth, unparallelled to anything I had ever experienced before.

I sat down on the bed next to Dev and laced my hiking boots, while he put on his.

It felt as though I was lost in a dream and prayed to never wake from it. I stood up and grabbed the Magnum from the side table and slipped it under the belt on my jeans, careful that the safety was on. After grabbing the last of my things, we made our way back to the living room.

Devan took my hand, entwining his fingers with my own and stroked my hand with his thumb.

"Let's go."

I threw my suitcase into the back seat and we climbed into the car. I placed the weapon in the center console and started the engine and as I pulled out of the driveway, rain started to lightly pelt the windshield in intricate patterns.  
~~

Driving was difficult, but I managed the vehicle on the slick road as it grew steadily darker and darker, all the while making idle chit chat with Devan.

I was heading over to my parents' house, to say goodbye to them, before I left and when we turned the corner, I panicked.

I could see the house, two Vancouver PD squad cars parked on the front lawn.

I stopped the car on the road and grabbed the gun, dashing out of the vehicle and skidding across the wet grass.

Gunshots pierced the night.

BLAM BLAM BLAM!

I started to freak out.

The front door was open, revealing the darkness beyond. In the middle of the front hall, my father lay still, surrounded by a pool of blood.

My heart pounded so hard I could barely swallow.

I cautiously walked forward and found an Officer, wounded, rambling about a big man in a coat, killing with his bare hands.

His account was interrupted by a cough and blood trickled from his lips. After another cough, he died.

I held the gun tightly, moving through the dining room. I found my mother.

I struggled to keep the tears down. She was dead. Worse than dead, she was mutilated, crushed by some unknown assailant.

I could almost sense the other presence before I heard the footsteps and the hairs rose on the back of my neck.

A Policeman entered the dining room, opposite from me.

"Hold it!" He shouted.

I held my hands up with the weapon in plain sight. "I'm RCMP. This is _MY family."_

He paused, taken aback. "I'm sorry…" He trailed off, unable to meet my gaze as I slowly pulled my badge from my pocket.

He cleared his throat, "He got away. Backup has been requested… leave this to us, you have your own job and you can't help them from here."

I wanted to deck him. My family was dead and he wanted me to have nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, he _was _right. He was City Police and I was out of my jurisdiction, but it stung to be set aside, not able to take part in this.

I walked back outside, my soul destroyed. I stepped off the front porch and collapsed to my knees on the wet grass and started to sob.

I don't know when, but I felt Devan's arms around me. He was warm in the cold rain, a fire on a winter's day.

He helped me to the car and slipped me into the passenger seat. He didn't ask he only drove.

They were dead... Savagely murdered.

I was so tired. I wanted to sleep, hoping that when I woke up that it would all have been a horrible dream and nothing more.

Devan had stopped at a Motel in the Fraser Valley and took me to a room, leading me inside.

He sat me down on the bed, pulling the gun from my grip and I hadn't even realized that I was still holding it. I had held on to the weapon for over an hour and letting it go left my knuckles stinging.

He sat down next to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his and I started to cry.

I don't know how long we sat like that, but my mind seemed to snap back into reality and I blinked hard, reaching for my glasses that Dev had set aside.

I looked into his green eyes then hugged him tightly. I didn't want to let go. I felt that if I let him go, he would disappear from my life and I would be lost in this horrible nightmare alone.

I managed to calmed down, Devan sitting next to me with the manila envelope in his hands. "Let's see what this is."

He opened it began to read it, occasionally pausing to read over a line again. "This can't be right."

I looked at him, puzzled.

He was shocked, and looked at me, attempting to put his thoughts to words.

"Umbrella…"

I didn't understand.

"Raccoon city incident…Umbrella Incorporated…" he trailed off.

It slowly fell into place, the story of the city, nuked by the US government because of a viral outbreak.

"Nate, there's an Umbrella facility somewhere in Rock Creek…Vancouver was a test site!"

A million thoughts stirred in my mind. "A test site? For what?"

He started to read further, flipping through pages, "I don't know…" he paused.

"What?"

"Nate…my article on Raccoon is in here. It was pulled from the papers by the US Government."

"So…"

He looked at me, "I was right…the virus _was _man-made. Biological weapons."

I was shocked.

"Why us then? Why _me_?"

"I don't know, Nathan."

My cell phone started to ring. "Hello?"

It was Madington.

"Nate, I'm sorry about your folks, but the city is overrun."

"Overrun? By what?"

"Get away from Van-" the line went dead.

I hung up my phone and turned to Dev, "What the hell is going on?"

A woman screamed.

I jumped up, grabbing my gun and heading for the door with Devan following close behind. Once outside, he grabbed his gun from the car and we proceeded to the registration office curious and afraid.

Inside, we stopped dead in our tracks. I blinked to make sure I was truly seeing what was in front of me.

A woman, the desk clerk, was on the floor dead, crowded by three men. They were _eating_ her, tearing at the flesh of her arms and legs. Blood was everywhere and the stink of it hung in the air.

"Hold it!" I screamed the words loudly, but the men responded slowly, rising to their feet.

This wasn't right.

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. The men looked dead, their skin hanging off of their bones, their clothes ragged and torn.

I held my gun stiffly at eye-level as one of them moved toward me, snarling. Then the smell hit me, the stench of decaying flesh and I fought back the urge to throw up.

I fired.

The _thing_ kept advancing, only momentarily slowed by the impact of the bullet.

I took aim again and pulled the trigger, disintegrating its head; the body falling to the ground limp.

I felt the rush of adrenaline and aimed again, firing at the second one, splattering red against the far wall.

It felt wrong... horrible.

I heard Dev fire and watched the last one fall, headless. Blood was everywhere and the room was thick with the smell of burnt gunpowder and gore.

What was happening? Zombies weren't real. They were bits of fiction, words on paper… actors on screen. They were _not_ real... it was impossible.

When I was growing up, my parents always told me that there weren't any monsters… any _real_ monsters. Even if I woke up at three in the morning, scared to death to get off my bed, thinking that some creature lurked in the darkness beneath my mattress, my parents would always convince me that there was nothing.

No monsters. Monsters They weren't real, only fodder for cheesy B-movies, nothing more.

Why did my parents tell me that?

Why had they lied to me?

There were monsters and they were everywhere.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

I was sitting in the Motel room, explaining… pleading to Devan, unsure of my own thoughts and beliefs. Nothing made sense anymore. Everything was upside down.

Monsters weren't supposed to exist.

"Nate, we have to go on. We have to stop this. The fact is, that they _are_ real."

Devan made sense. He was the beacon which pulled me from the chaos. He was real, even if he was the _last_ real thing.

Something clicked in my head, allowing me to finally grasp what was going on, no matter how far fetched it seemed.

"You're right."

He reached over to me and kissed my forehead, calmed my fears if only for a moment and soon after, I fell asleep.

The dreams were horrifying, visions of half-decayed people, killing and eating the living. Blood, gruesome amounts of crimson liquid, flowing from every surface.

A shadow, large… all I can see is the coat and he towers over me, calling my name.

"NOOOOOO!"

The shadow reached for me, wrapping its large hands around me. I struggled, trying to escape.

I looked up at its face and saw Devan looking back down at me, concerned.

"Nathan! Nathan! Wake up, you're dreaming."

Reality hit me.

"Devan…" I hugged him, never wanting to let go.

I looked at my watch. Five-thirty in the morning. It was still dark, but the sky was getting brighter by the minute.

"I'm alright, just a dream….I'm fine, just fine…" I said it to myself more than anything.

BOOM!

A blast from a shotgun outside.

"Shit! What the hell?!" …_somebody_ screamed.

BOOM!

I was up almost instantly, dressed from the night before. I grabbed my gun and went outside only to see a man, holding a shotgun; get his head crushed by another man over seven feet tall. He was wearing an overcoat.

The raw power it seemed to expel made my knees shake.

It saw me. It dropped the dead man when it did and turned to me, moving slowly with a lumbering gate that made the ground vibrate with each step.

I aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, hitting it square in the face, but it did little to slow the behemoth. It still moved and I back pedalled and turned, running to the car and popped the trunk, fumbling frantically for the shotgun.

It tore away from the velcro sheath and I checked it over. Fully loaded.

I aimed and fired, the blast ringing in my ears.

I fired again.

The _third_ blast sent the figure backward, falling to the ground and as I sighed with relief, I saw that it had stopped moving.

Devan ran outside and stopped next to me, "Holy shit! What the FUCK is that thing?!"

I was angry, not taking my eyes off of it for a moment. "_That_ thing killed my parents."

I felt a hand slowly grasp my wrist and I turned to Dev, "Let's get out of here!"

The sound of the gravel, moving across itself caused me to pan my head back and I nearly died right there. The thing was standing up. It was slow, forcing itself to its feet with cold determination and its black, lifeless eyes staring into me..

"Oh shit! I fired three shots into that thing!"

Devan didn't say anything, pulling on my arm and motioned to the car. I understood, I didn't intend to stick around and climbed behind the wheel, fumbling with the keyring in my pocket.

I looked into the rear-view mirror as I turned the key and saw the big man moving toward me.

The engine sputtered but wasn't starting. I tried it again and again, chancing occasional glances into the side mirror.

'Objects in mirror are closer than they appear'.

I could feel the sweat bead on my brow and I silently prayed for escape.

The engine rolled over and I put it in gear, the car lurching forward onto the road leading to the Highway, the towering stalker left behind.

"Geezuz!" Devan said with a sigh.

"It followed me, Dev… it's probably still following me… us…"

Devan stroked my arm. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. His touch was all the reassurance I needed to go on. He was the reason that I was still alive. He was my reason to keep fighting.

The sun was almost fully in the sky and I could tell that it would be a hot day. I could hear the sound of insects buzzing, but other than that, there was only the sound of the engine as we followed the winding road ahead of us.

"The Highway is empty."

Devan was right. There hadn't been any other cars on the road. Were they dead? Had I awoken to some nightmare? Had I awoken at all?

I could faintly hear something in the distance, getting closer. It sounded like the roar of thunder, before a storm and then I saw it. An eighteen-wheeled Rig with a double trailer, approaching a turn much too fast.

"It's going to hit us!"

I slammed the brakes and turned, just as the long hauler hit the turn and rolled, sending a storm of sparks and debris in all directions.

The car spun crazily, out of my control and slid off the side of the road and with a jolt, landed in a ditch.

"Fuck."

I could feel blood running down my face from the small cut I got from hitting the steering wheel.

Devan was breathing hard, looking at the underside of the Rig and pointed at something that didn't take me long to spot as well. It was the form of a man, stumbling from the crash, his clothes torn. He seemed injured, badly injured.

He drew closer and the more detail I could make out, the more I could see that he was already dead... and he was moving toward the car.

I groaned when I leaned on the door, prying the latch and crawled out, moving toward the shambling form. In disgust I aimed and fired the Magnum, shattering its head into tiny fragments of flesh, brain and skull.

I turned back to the car, Devan climbing out to meet me and the two of us stared back at the wreck. Even if the car could be pushed out of the ditch, it wouldn't drive. The two front wheels were bent inward at an odd angle.

"Damn."

Dev shook his head. "So much for a ride..."

I nodded with a sigh, "Well, we might as well take what we can from the trunk and move on."

Devan looked at me, "Yeah, sounds like a better plan than camping here," then turned to me with the flash of an idea. "Of course, we could always phone a tow-truck…"

I pulled out my phone and chuckled when I realized that the battery was dead.

Devan grinned, "Well I don't know, maybe we could hail a cab…" he started to chuckle.

I couldn't help but laugh as well. "Oh sure we could hail one, but you know how hard it is to find a cab around here?"

It seemed like it had been years since I had laughed but I stopped laughing abruptly. I saw the big man walking slowly toward us from down the road. He was about three-hundred yards away, but he was _relentlessly_ moving toward us.

We both ran to the trunk and grabbed our things, taking occasional glances back before running off and trying desperately to put distance between us and that monster.

"Fuck this bag is heavy!"

"Shut up Dev, just keep running!"

Ahead we could see a house with a truck parked in the driveway. It was the only building we could see in a landscape full of trees.

"Devan, the house!"

"I would've gone there anyway…even if you kept running!"

It was large and old, obviously built privately. Devan ran up to the door and knocked loudly.

"Hello? Is there anyone here? Let us in!" I came up alongside Dev and banged on the door with my gun in hand.

"This is the RCMP! We are entering the premises!"

Dev laughed at me.

I shook my head and shrugged, then opened the door, only to be met with the twin barrels of an elephant gun.

My eyes focused in the darkness and I saw that the weapon was being held by a young woman with short, brown hair. She was wearing khaki shorts and a white tank-top.

"Hold it right there!" She screamed.

"I'm a cop! Police officer, police officer! Don't shoot!"

She steadied the heavy weapon but didn't move.

"Would it help to say that I'm still alive…" I said with some level of calm between breaths.

"…and that we'd like to keep it that way?" Devan added.

She seemed to think it over and relaxed. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Nathan and this is Devan."

The girl lowered her gun and I could see that she couldn't be older than seventeen or eighteen.

"I'm Amanda. Sorry, but things have been really weird."

She showed us into the living room, locking the front door behind us.

"You two are the first living people I've seen in almost a week."

Devan sat in an armchair across from Amanda, who sat on the couch and I stayed on my feet. "Where is everyone? I mean, what happened to everyone?"

Amanda shook her head. "I don't know. About a week ago, people were finding dead bodies that looked... eaten. Then people started to get sick and die too. My parents were doctors. My mom got sick and…" She started to cry softly.

"Everyone's just dead!"

I felt bad for her, knowing what it was like with my own parents... and my old life.

"By the way…where are we?"

She looked at me, puzzled. "Just passed Hope, about halfway to Hell's Gate."

Devan snickered. "That's golden. A place that doubles as a statement of existence."

All three of us fell silent when we heard the sound of breaking glass.

"Oh god! What was that?"

"It's ok Amanda, I'll go take a look."

Devan was about to stand up, but I motioned him to stay.

I walked to the staircase and began to ascend, my magnum held in front of me.

There was a hallway with doors along the walls and all the visible windows had been boarded up. Light streamed in through the cracks, casting eerie shadows along the floor.

I moved toward the first room and paused when I heard crunching glass from behind the door. I opened it slowly with the gun levelled, scanning the room and I took a step forward.

It was a girl's room... likely Amanda's and the window was broken, the glass all over the floor. I could hear raspy breathing, but I couldn't see anything or tell where it was coming from. Panic welled in me and I felt as though I was being watched.

Something landed on the floor in front of me with a heavy thud, having been hanging from its perch on the ceiling.

"Shit!"

It was hideous, like it had been skinned and allowing its glistening, red muscle structure to be seen. It was relatively human in shape, though where its hands should have been, were large vicious claws instead. It cocked its eyeless head, an exposed brain and sharp jagged teeth that it parted to reveal a long pointed tongue.

The creature's tongue whipped toward me, impossibly long and I ducked, narrowly avoiding the attempt to impale me.

I fired the Magnum, causing the creature to shudder with each hit as I squeezed the trigger and the blasts echoed loudly in the bedroom. When my gun refused to unleash more bullets, I saw that the creature had stopped moving, laying in a puddle of it's own blood and entrails.

Devan appeared behind me with Amanda, who screamed at the gore that seeped over the floorboards of the room.

Dev knelt next to the creature. "What is _this_ thing?"

"Gee Dev, you _don't_ know? Well, we've known all along… we just never told _you_!" I knew his question was rhetorical and he had about as much of a clue as to what it was, than I did and he rolled his eyes at my sarcastic comments.

We backed out of the room and I shut the door, taking a moment to try and calm the girl down who was fighting back the urge to cry – or throw up.

Devan led the way back downstairs to the living room and I flopped down on the couch, next to where our bags had been dropped to reload my gun. Searching through the black duffel bag, I found attachments for the gun and smiled as well.

Devan's bag had an automatic pistol with a stock and he picked it up, tossing his previous weapon back into the bag as I followed the instructions to customize the Magnum.

"Cool!"

The front door burst inward with the splintering of heavy wood, revealing the looming form of the big man with his dark coat billowing around him.

Amanda screamed, hefting the elephant gun up and fired, knocking the shadowy figure backward, out the door and out of sight.

I grabbed the bags and turned to the frightened young woman, her weapon smoking in the stillness of the room. "Is there a back exit?"

She looked at me and nodded, turning and lead us to the kitchen.

I was taking up the rear checking over my shoulder as Amanda opened the door and stepped outside, followed by Devan.

I closed the door once we were outside and I turned, momentarily blinded. The sun was bright and it took a moment for my sight to readjust from being inside the dark house. Behind the door I could hear the looming footsteps on the hardwood floor.

We ran around the building to the truck, Dev taking his bag to toss it into the bag cab of the truck as I did the same. Amanda unlocked the doors and climbed in to start the engine while Devan quickly shuffled over to give me room. I looked out the passenger side window and saw the big man walking toward us, those black eyes fixed on me. I swallowed hard.

Devan followed my gaze. "Fuck! Nothing stops this thing!"

My train of thought was broken with the sound of the engine roaring to life, as well as the sound of the squealing tires on the dusty road. A thick cloud kicked up around the vehicle and it obscured my view of our bloodhound.

We had to stop this madness. We had to.

The truck bounced over the two lane road, winding beneath us and I rolled down the passenger side window. Rock Creek was where we were going... where we knew there was some kind of research facility. Would it really end if we exposed them? I mentally shook the thought away. It had to.

_Where_ though.

My concentration was stifled when the truck's engine started to sputter, Amanda pulling over to the shoulder before the engine finally died.

"Fuck!" Amanda said, "we're out of gas!"

I felt as though I was trapped within some bad horror flick. The bad guy, Mr. X; the ruthless psychopath on our tails and everything seemed to go horribly wrong.

We all got out of the truck and I went to the back to retrieve our bags, setting the two carry-alls onto the dusty pavement beside Devan.

He looked around, shielding his eyes with his hand and pointed up the road. I strained my eyes to see what he saw.

"Hey, there's a sign up there, for a town!"

Amanda thought for a second and chuckled, "It's Spuzzm, though I wouldn't consider it a town..."

It was the smallest little place, a town with only three prominent buildings, though one _was_ a gas station.

Dev and I took our bags and the three of us started walking along the Highway, cautious about our stalker. There were nearly no trees, only an endless amount of beige dust. Down the cliff-side, we could see the Fraser River, stretching off into the distance and the horizon was filled by the immense, jagged forms of the Rocky Mountains.

Other than isolated farm communities, there was nothing but dust… and Spuzzm. Dust kicked up into clouds around us as we walked, talking calmly about our course of action.

"Well, there's a Restaurant, a Gas station and a General store. We should grab supplies… gas and get outa here!" Amanda pointed around as she spoke, seeming like a Tour-guide.

I walked over to the gas pump, the solitary gas pump and checked the meter. "Empty." I said the word solemnly and dropped the duffel at my feet.

I slammed my palm on the rusted metal of the pump.

"It's _fucking_ empty…"

I looked at the handsome blonde, squinting in the bright light.

"What now?"

I was sick of this bullshit. Sick of running. In an instant, everything that I had known had fallen apart, like a house of cards in a hurricane.

Amanda disappeared into the washroom, while Devan and myself went into the General store.

"Don't move!"

A man was standing behind the counter, holding a rifle in his hands that he pointed at us. "What do you want?"

I took a step forward, holding my hands up. "Supplies. We need gas and food."

The man didn't take his aim off of me.

"There's nothing here for you! Go away!"

I tried to interject, "Bu-"

"Go away! Leave me alone! There's nothing left!"

Outside, Amanda screamed, followed by a blast from the elephant gun.

"Shit! What was that?" The man went to the window to peer outside when Amanda burst through the door into the unlit store, sweat beading on her forehead.

"He's here!"

I turned to the man, waving and pleading with him to follow. "C'mon! Is there another way out of here?"

"I'm not leaving!"

"You're going to _die_, if you DON'T!"

He looked at me and shook his head. I swallowed a lump in my throat and he sighed, pointing past me.

"That door leads to the restaurant."

I was leading the others to it, when I noticed that the man wasn't following us.

"C'mon! It'll be here soon!"

He didn't move.

The door shattered inward and the juggernaut stepped inside, a cloud of dust surrounding him.

"Geezuz!"

"C'mon!"

He still didn't move. Instead, he trained his gun on the behemoth and fired, but the hulk kept moving forward. Easily fighting against the bullets, he reached over the counter for the man.

BANG! BANG!

My vision blurred and the man started to scream. His gun hit the floor with a loud _thump_ and the monster turned to me. It moved forward, grasping the man's head in one hand, the footsteps thundering on the panel wood floor.

He screamed again, interrupted by the sound of his skull, crushed like a melon. Gore spread across the floor and I looked away feeling dizzy and clutching my mouth.

I didn't dare to look back, only run through the door, into the darkened Restaurant.

There were bullet holes everywhere and all the tables were over-turned. There was blood gathered in day-old pools.

Devan stopped, looking around.

"Shit! All the windows and doors are boarded up!"

We were trapped. I frantically looked around for an escape but paused when I heard a soft moan. I squinted in the darkness and saw a man crawling toward me. Suddenly the man's features became visible and I trained my gun on him and fired. There was a sickening _crunch_ as his head imploded, spreading a darkness over the even darker floor.

"Quick! The kitchen!"

Devan ran ahead of me and Amanda was close behind as we entered the kitchen. It was dusty, obviously unused for quite some time and a cloud of flies buzzed noisily.

Amanda was panicking, "What do we do!?"

An idea formed.

"We'll use the walk-in fridge to trap him!"

Devan met my gaze, "Amanda, go hide behind that counter and wait until that thing is standing in front of the open refrigerator. When I say to, fire."

She was quick to react, taking her vantage point and waiting.

"Good luck Devan."

He smiled back to me, "You too."

He opened the large metal door and hid behind it, while I stood in the open to bait the monster.

The kitchen door burst inward and the thing stepped through.

_My_ 'Mr. X'. The horror movie psychopath.

"You want me? Come and get me." My heart pounded in my chest.

It didn't disappoint me, relentlessly stalking forward; footsteps impossibly loud on the tile floor, every step bringing it dangerously closer to me.

"Now!"

Amanda pulled the trigger.

_Click_.

Mr. X seemed to understand, turned to Amanda and walked toward her with his hands outstretched.

Her gun wasn't loaded. She started to panic, searching through her pockets for more shells.

I levelled my weapon and fired repeatedly, but had little effect against the ruthless colossus.

"Run Amanda! Run!"

Frustrated, she threw the weapon to the floor and ran around the stainless steel counter, but slipped. Time slowed down and everything seemed to mute. I saw her scream, but I couldn't hear the scream.

I saw the fingers touch her, grasping her clothes.

It grabbed her.

Pain ripped through her delicate features as she realized that she was about to die.

The world seemed to turn back on and reality clicked back into place.

Amanda screamed as Dev and I unleashed a barrage of gunfire on the beast, slowly pushing him back with each volley.

"Let her go!"

BLAM BLAM BLAM!

With almost no effort, Mr. X swung his arm with Amanda in his grip and flung her across the room. She landed in front of the walk-in freezer in a heap, blood covering the side of her face from where she struck the metal door.

Devan ran over to her and felt for a pulse, "She's alive!"

I was still firing at the hulk as it slowly approached, the black eyes searching. It wanted _me_.

"We have to get out of here!" Dev hefted Amanda up over his shoulder and started to make a move for the door, slipping slightly on the ceramic tiles.

"Devan! Behind you!"

I wanted to fire again, but I risked hitting either him or the girl.

Mr. X reached out and swung his fist down, narrowly missing Dev. Blood sprayed across the stainless steel counters and Dev lost his grip on Amanda who fell like a rag doll.

He didn't pause though. He knew she was dead. He knew the blood hadn't been his own.

"Run Dev, RUN!"

He reached out and I took his hand, pulling him through the kitchen into the Restaurant and leading the way back to the General store.

Dev wrenched me toward the dead man, having seen something. My eyes struggled in the dim and cloudy room and my vision finally focused on it.

The small, green, egg-shaped thing, hanging from the man's belt. A grenade.

Mr. X slammed through the door, shattering it and thundered toward us with his hands reaching out.

Devan snatched the grenade and removed the pin as we made it out the door to the parking lot and with a quick glance back, he threw the explosive device inside, just ahead of the monster.

We were running to the road when it detonated, the two of us diving to the ground and covering our heads as the force of the explosion blew the windows outward, shattering glass and splintering wood. Small debris lightly rained down on us and I rolled over, coughing and. Fire spread to the restaurant and soon there was another explosion as kitchen propane tanks caught. For a moment I felt around me and lifted my glasses up but shrugged, tossing the cracked lenses aside.

I was standing up, when I felt the ground rumble. I looked up the mountain-side and saw the impending avalanche. A sheet of rock and dirt slid down the slope toward us and we could do nothing to stop it.

"Run Devan! RUUUUN!"

The rumble grew louder and louder, as tons of rock and loose dirt tumbled across the road behind us, smashing into the remains of the small buildings surely to obliterate any sign of a small town called Spuzzm.

I stopped and looked back, confident that we had cleared the danger zone and saw the General store, the Restaurant and the Gas station break apart and flow off the cliff-face with the debris.

When the avalanche slowed, it was clear that we would _not _be using the road. Where there was once a small town, there was now a thirty foot wall of rock.

Devan took my hand in his, kissing the back of my palm. "We're still alive."

"Amanda..."

"C'mon Nate, we'd better get going."

"Yeah…"

We walked for miles along the dusty, deserted roads, with no sign of life, save for the buzzing of insects which gnawed at our exposed arms hungrily.

It felt like we were doomed to forever walk in the middle of nowhere, alone, save for the company of each other and nothing else seemed to make sense anymore.

He and I were pulled into something. Something undeniably _evil_.

I was sick and tired of death and I could tell that Devan felt the same way.

"Nate, we are going to make it through this."

I smiled wryly.

"I know, Devan. I know."

The sun was starting to set, but we didn't slow our pace. I could feel something lingering in the shadows, following us and neither of us wanted to find out what they were.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

There was no moon in the sky, merely an infinite expanse of stars to light our way, the tiny pin-pricks of light above us, casting a faint glow over the desolate landscape.

In the darkness outside of my field of vision, I could hear noises all around... growls, footsteps and _breathing _and when I flashed a quick glance over at Devan, I could tell that he heard the same things.

Something was out there, in the darkness and though they couldn't be seen, they were following us. They stayed out of sight, as if waiting to ambush us and the thought sent a chill up my spine in the already chilled night.

They didn't _want_ to be seen… yet anyway.

I shivered uncontrollably at the thought. "Fuck, this is creepy."

Devan nodded and mumbled a response. "Very…"

All of our stuff had been in the truck, blocked by the landslide which levelled a small town. All we had left was what we had been carrying with us and luckily I had put an extra clip for the weapon in my pocket. I held the Magnum tightly and stopped in my tracks when I faintly heard something running, scuffing the gravel as it did.

Devan stopped along side me. "What?"

"Do you hear that?"

I turned around and saw a shape in the shadows as it ran toward us.

"I think it's a dog…"

Devan squinted, nodding slowly.

It growled and sped up, preparing to lunge, viscous drool pouring from the animal's jaws as the growling grew louder.

My stomach turned when the creature became visible, the grotesque details of it's deformity burning into my mind.

"Fuck!"

I hefted the gun up and pulled the trigger, hitting the beast in the leg, blowing it off in a spray of tissue and bone. It tumbled hard and rolled with a yelp, pawing at the ground with its remaining front paw.

It struggled to its feet and continued to approach, the faint light of twilight glistening off the creature's almost skinned appearance.

Devan pulled the trigger on his automatic, riddling the three-legged corpse with tiny holes, sending chunks of rotting flesh into the air.

With another yelp, the dog flopped over, tumbling from sheer momentum and crashed to a stop in the gravel.

"Geezuz! This virus doesn't stop with people!"

"Dev, we got to get out of here!"

"Gee Nathan, I thought we'd settle in here… get a house an all… FUCK! I know!"

I could hear the other noises approaching, as more canine shadows jogged to catch up with us, their claws scratching the ground beneath them.

We started to run, battling our exhaustion as more of the creatures approached from behind. We were motivated to keep moving, overwhelmed by a strong desire to survive and I could almost feel the animals' breath on my back.

I spun around and opened fire on the four-legged brute, a bullet smashing into its skull and exposing the sticky interior. Another caught up and took its place, only to be cut down as well by a string of automatic fire.

"We can't keep shooting these things! We'll be out of ammo in no time!"

Devan was right and he grabbed my arm and pulled me forward, ignoring the approaching beasts; their growls and snarls heard in the distance.

"Nathan! A town!"

I could see a few lights, as well as the vague outline of a sign and we pushed forward, my lungs burning with every breath.

Once we were close enough, I could make out the writing on the wooden board and I nodded, repeating the words in my head.

_Welcome to Rock Creek_.

The road curled around a small hill-side, with few trees and houses, lost behind us in a blur as we ran for our lives, the infected dogs still on our trail.

A light was shining from a window and Dev pulled me toward it, intent on seeking refuge from the nocturnal terrors which followed behind us and I gave no effort to argue.

We reached the back door of the small house loud and hard and I tried the knob, thankful that it was open.

"Great! C'mon!"

Devan turned around and started to shoot at the forms of dogs a few feet away, then ducked inside, closing the door behind him and locking it with the heavy deadbolt. The door rattled on its hinges as the dogs leaped against it, snarling.

I could see a pool of blood seeping under the door and the familiar stink of the dead… and rot filled my nostrils.

My attention shifted to a faint shuffling noise in the dark residence behind me and I turned, the true source of the stench being inside, rather than out.

I reached to feel along the wall for a light switch and smiled, casting an amber glow to the kitchen and illuminating the putrid, walking corpse.

It stood in the doorway into the rest of the house, its arms held outward and its head cocked to one side. It opened its mouth and released a gurgling moan, causing blood to froth and foam from between gnarled teeth onto the gummy carpet at its feet.

I raised the weapon in my hand and fired, hitting the former human square in the face which sent it tumbling backward in a spin and spurting gore across the walls and about the room.

Instinctively I held my forearm up to my mouth, shielding myself from the smell as Devan moved forward through the opening and into the living room, where two zombies were kneeling. They were devouring a person on the floor, long since deceased.

The closest one to us stood in the darkness and turned, but Dev opened fire, sending blood spraying. I watched in morbid fascination as it collapsed to its knees and fell over, giving a last bloody sigh as it slumped over on the dingy carpet.

The other creature had been crawling along the floor, hidden by a couch and caught me off guard, wrapping its rotting fingers around my ankle.

"Fuck!"

The creature pulled itself toward me, its mouth open; preparing to sink its teeth into the flesh of my calf as it wailed. It was a sound more like one of pain than hunger and I could feel tears well in the corners of my eyes.

Out of instinct and with a last-hope effort I kicked my leg out hard, striking the zombie in the upper jaw and with a splatter of black, grey and deepest crimson, sent the top half of its head sailing across the room..

"Oh god…oh god…" My gut tightened and I collapsed to my knees, dry-heaving.

Devan put his arm around me, "Are you ok? Did it bite you?"

I started to calm down and shook my head, the feeling of nausea subsiding. "I'm fine, it didn't get me…just scared the _shit_ out of me, is all."

Devan reached for a light switch but I stopped him.

"I'd rather _not_ see the mess."

"C'mon Nate, let's go find out what that light was, upstairs."

I stood up slowly, supported by Dev's firm shoulder while my knees still shook and threatened to give out beneath me. "Yeah."

We ascended the staircase slowly, keeping our eyes and ears open for any sign of some undead creature, previously human or _otherwise_, waiting behind a corner for us to pass. To our relief it was calm and quiet, save for the occasional creak of the floorboards beneath the carpet.

The upper level was dimly lit by two oil lamps on the wall, casting eerie amber shadows down the hallway, flickering with a life and intelligence all their own.

To the left, a door was ajar and we could tell it was a bathroom. Next to it was a door which, upon investigation, led to a bedroom and both were thankfully deserted.

The last door was closed, but light shone from the bottom. The same surreal glow as behind us.

Devan slowly opened the door, bathing us with a fiery ambiance as we cautiously entered and we looked around us in the quiet room.

It was a study, neat and tidy and the only thing to disturb the silence was the creaking of the door behind as Dev carefully closed it and locked it.

There were two bookshelves, a small couch and coffee table, as well as a desk with a computer, a filing cabinet and a large leather chair. The computer seemed oddly out of place in the dated office, placed there with a sense of need, rather than commodity and on the floor next to it was an ancient typewriter.

A single sheet of blank paper was in the typewriter and when I rounded the study to where it rested, I could make out a solitary word printed in the center and capitalized.

DEAD.

I took a seat at the desk and flipped the monitor on, greeted by a chime and a red and white image, octagonal in shape.

"Hey Dev, what do you make of this?"

Devan stepped up behind me and looked at the symbol on-screen, recognition hitting him.

It reminded me of the old German insignia, stencilled on the sides of WW1 planes. Devan spoke abruptly. "That's the Umbrella corporate logo."

It felt like we were getting close and I tapped the Enter key, causing a menu to pop up on screen.

**Umbrella Inc. Company Database** **Journal ** **Projects** **Employees** **Facility**

I clicked on 'Projects' and a message box came up, prompting me to enter a password. I shrugged and closed that option, then selected 'Journal' and a list of dates appeared instead.

I chose the most recent entry and a file popped up on the screen.

_May 02_

_I am weary of the actions of my superiors. Jenkins has been threatening me, telling me that if I didn't give him a finished product in twenty-four hours, he'd kill me. I can't stand this. There are too many secrets, too many scientists and too many accidents. _

_Something had escaped from the lab yesterday and killed four people. There's talk amongst the techs that there are plans to use a city in BC as a test site for experiments I fear that these tests are not in the interest of the people who live there. As I write this entry, I am certain that it will be my last. For the last few days, I've had migraines and yesterday I could have sworn that I was catching the flu._

_Everyone seems to be getting it lately. What's worse is that everyone who HAS gotten sick has died shortly after. It seems too familiar. _

Devan went to a bookshelf and started scanning the titles, while I clicked on the 'Facility' option.

A map appeared on-screen and I printed it, still studying the image on the monitor. The lab was located under a construction site, where there would soon be an office building for the Pharmaceutical company. According to the map, there was an entrance to the lab in an abandoned mine shaft, not far from where we were.

"Hey Devan, check this out."

He took the map from me and looked it over, nodding.

"Good. Now we know where to go."

I sat back and yawned loudly, suddenly overcome by the last 24 hours.

"Tired?"

I smiled, "Aren't you?"

Devan chuckled. "Oh, hell yes."

I stood up and slowly walked over to the couch, undid my boots and slumped down onto it with Dev, making myself comfortable in his arms. The door was locked, the room felt secure and the overall silence didn't leave me uneasy as much as calmed.

Sleep was welcomed, though I prayed that I would be free of the _nightmares_. "I hope you don't dream, Devan."

"You too," he said with a smile. "you too."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

It was during the early hours of morning, that I awoke, plagued by countless questions; the most prominent one being _why me_?

Why had I been pulled into this situation? I was a mere rookie-cop, fantasizing about a life in a small town, doing what I could to maintain a sense of morality and peace. Yet someone had decided to make me a resident in something incredibly evil. As much as I would like to hope, I knew it was more than coincidence. Madington knew it.

Five years ago, when I decided I wanted to become a cop, life was seen as being simple and routine, driving me to seek an existence that I could be happy contributing to. I thought "What the hell, why not. I'll apply!" and everything would be simple.

I can still, even five years later, hear the pleading words of friends and parents alike; _why a cop?_

_Why do something so_ _risky?_

My parents never understood. _Could_ never understand that I wanted something, anything more than living in a big city, blending into the background. Sure, becoming a cop meant that I would have to deal with some pretty harsh shit, but it would be worth it... at least _I_ thought it would. Besides, crime in a small town pales in comparison to crime in a city.

But now… I'm starting to regret my career choice. In fact, I'm starting to regret the whole thing.

The Academy had been a breeze and I excelled at most things, my teachers even complimenting me, telling me I would make them proud. It all seems so surreal now, like a faded dream, lost over the years.

It was strange, catching every lucky break a person _could_ catch, down to an assignment that I would be happy with. That, plus Chief Madington's lack of expense, instilled me with a paranoia of something best described as _conspiracy_.

I looked at Devan's face as he slept on top of me, taking in his peacefulness and forgetting about all the pain and suffering I had witnessed over the past couple days. I zoned out for a few minutes more in his visage.

But something more troubled me. Why _did_ I leave the city?

Devan.

I stirred uneasily at the thought and felt Dev shift his weight, slowly waking.

"Nathan, you awake?"

I stroked the top of his head lightly with my fingers, gently running them through his hair. "Yeah, I've been up for a bit."

He rubbed his eyes then met my gaze, a slight grin touching his face. With little effort, he leaned close and kissed me softly, his palm on my cheek. "What's wrong?"

Even with the euphoria of his gentle touch, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to my parents' deaths and our current predicament.

"Something is bothering you, isn't it?"

It took a moment for the question to register. "Yeah, my parents. There's something I've missed."

An idea formed in my mind, a _hunch_. "Devan, I have to get up for a moment and check something."

Reluctantly, he shifted his weight, allowing me to stand and I walked over to the computer, a word zipping around my mind.

_Employees_.

The computer had been left on all night and I sat down in front of it. With a quick motion, I selected the Employee heading and leaned back, waiting.

A screen popped up. A list.

Scanning the names, I paused. Madington was there; Turkraft, my instructor at the Academy…but my heart truly skipped a beat when I discovered that my father's name was among them.

My father? Working for those assholes who had taken my life away and without any sense of remorse?

It ate away at my mind to believe that my father would knowingly participate in this nightmare, but it was laid out right in front of me.

My father had never mentioned anything about his work, or that he worked at all for that matter and now things were starting to fit into place.

There was a sudden loud thump, downstairs in the living room and I met Dev's shocked look.

"What the _fuck_ was that?"

We put our boots on and grabbed our weapons, moving slowly towards the door as the thumping continued. It was followed by the sound of breaking glass and I unlocked the door and opened it, slipping silently into the hall with Dev heading towards the staircase.

The footsteps could be heard and I froze as a shadow fell across the far wall.

Devan calmly wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me into the bedroom where we hid behind the door, waiting for the thing to appear.

A shadow was cast across the room as the figure stood in the doorway, preparing to enter. I could hear the breathing, shallow and with a hollow sound to it. The end of a machine gun came into view and I realized that it was a person, rather than some walking _biohazard_.

Slowly, I stepped into view, my hands in the air and met the line of sight of the soldier, dressed in black fatigues and wearing a helmet and gas mask. On the soldier's shoulder, was the Umbrella logo.

I was about to speak, but decided against it, as the barrel of the large gun was pointed directly at me, unmoving. Finally I gathered the nerve to speak. "I'm Officer Silver, RCM-" …he cut me off.

"Quiet!"

Devan was still hiding behind the door and it seemed that the soldier had no clue that I wasn't alone, ushering me out of the room and downstairs, following me close behind with the weapon trained on me.

Halfway down the staircase, Devan had crept up behind the soldier and slammed the butt of his gun on the base of the man's neck, knocking him to the side with a heavy thud against the wall. I quickly spun when I heard the impact and snatched the heavy weapon from the soldier's grip and pointed it back as the black clad mercenary regained their balance.

"I think it's time you answered a few questions."

There was a loud crash downstairs, followed by a tapping sound that did little to drown out the raspy, laboured breathing of the tongued creature.

Without warning, it appeared at the base of the staircase, screeching like metal fingernails on a chalkboard as it prepared to lunge.

Two more came into view and scuttled to the base of the staircase with their brother, joining in with the beastial symphony as we slowly backed our way up the stairs, Devan ordering the soldier around.

One beast leaped, landing on the steps in front of me, parting its deadly jaws and revealing the massive tongue. Thick saliva gurgled out as it hissed.

I opened fire, surprised by the kick of the weapon, riddling the abomination with a series of bullet wounds and spattering droplets of crimson on the white walls.

With a sickened shriek, cut off by the beasts' death, it collapsed and gave me the opportunity to reach the upper level before the other two _things_ took its place at my heels.

The three of us stood in the hallway, moving back in retreat as a tongue-beast appeared, clinging to the ceiling. I pulled the trigger and spotted the second on the floor, closer than the other, causing me to switch targets.

"Nathan, I can't fire, not enough room!"

Even as Devan said the words, I already knew. The hallway was much too narrow and I was in his line of sight.

The floor-crawler shrieked and spasmed in death, as the other lunged at me from the ceiling, mouth open and the tongue ready to impale. In a panic I ducked, narrowly avoiding the huge talons as the beast passed over me and buried itself into the soldier; tearing at his chest and opening his ribcage with a heavy, wet crunch. Blood poured from the multitude of wounds and it was clear that the man was dead before he hit the ground.

Devan started firing and I spun, punching hole after hole into the hideous creature as it licked the soldier's exposed chest cavity. With the tell-tale shriek, it spasmed one final time before it died and the house once again returned to silence.

"I think it's time we left this place, Nate."

I answered calmly, my gaze never leaving the dead creature while my heart felt like it was trying to lodge itself in my throat. "I'm inclined to agree."

I knelt next to the remains of the soldier and rummaged through his pockets, finding three clips for a standard 9mm and tossed them to Dev as well as two clips for the machine gun, which I pocketed.

After that, it didn't take us much convincing to leave the house, carefully listening for any other signs of danger.

The sun was hotter than the day before, accentuating the smell of decay and I glanced at my watch. Noon.

Lunchtime. _Feeding_ time.

Chilling thoughts entered my mind, but I forced them away, unwilling to allow them to stay to cloud my judgement. At this point, the last thing I needed, the last thing _Dev_ needed, is for me to be preoccupied with cynicism.

"Well Devan, the mine-entrance is that way," I said, pointing off beyond a hill-side. "It shouldn't take us longer than ten or fifteen minutes to reach it."

He nodded, squinting in the bright sun.

It seemed that I was getting used to this. It seemed that we did, could and would overcome anything Umbrella could throw in our faces and more importantly that we had to. We had to stop them from

Of course, I still felt an uneasiness. A feeling that I couldn't shake since we left Spuzzm, but I couldn't place it but left it at the anxiety of losing Amanda.

The walk was easy, tracking through six inches of fine beige dust, which kicked up behind us in a small cloud.

From our vantage point, we could see staggering dark specs all around, undoubtedly the forms of zombies. Occasionally, we could make out other forms, scurrying in shadows. Tongue-creatures. _Lickers_.

I shuddered with the thought of seeing that gruesome tongue dip into the soldier's chest cavity, wriggling inside like a demonic, red serpent.

Wanting to take my mind off reality, I turned to Devan and put my hand on his arm, still bothered by a feeling of uneasiness that I couldn't shake. "Why did you come into the city?"

Devan seemed shocked as if I wasn't supposed to ask, that I had committed some kind of crime. I didn't look away, instead I pleaded for an answer without saying a word.

He sighed and finally spoke. "After I had gone to Raccoon; after I had written that article, I was approached by men…_rich_ men. They wanted me to help them."

It clicked. "They were from Umbrella…"

Devan nodded solemnly. "Yeah. They told me that I could help them. Your name came up and they sent me to get you."

Anger welled up inside me, hurting my head. I struggled to remain calm, but the reality of Devan's betrayal was too much.

"You're _working_ for them?"

Devan didn't move, didn't blink.

I couldn't deal with this. I turned away from him, disgusted. More so than staring at the gruesome remains of the victims, those poor souls who didn't stand a chance. Tears trickled down my cheeks and I started to walk away quickly.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and stopped, turning to look into Dev's eyes.

"Nathan… I didn't know about all this. They just said they wanted me to make sure you got here."

I felt sincerity in his voice as he spoke and could have sworn he was about to cry as well. "I didn't realize that these… creatures would…" he trailed off.

I understood, at least I wanted to. The fact we had survived, made me want to trust him. The fact that I loved him, made me believe him.

I forced a slight grin, causing him to smile. "Well Devan, what now?"

Devan took my hands in his and chuckled. "Let's get these bastards."

With a new feeling of purpose, we came to the large metal doors to the mine shaft and stepped inside. We were bathed by the dim light of industrial work-lights, hanging from the walls that alerted us that someone had been here recently.

Without hesitation, I walked forward, content in the knowledge that we would face all of this together.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

I could hear a faint dripping sound in the distance, as well as the whirrs of machinery, hidden from the naked eye. Shadows danced along the walls, over the metal grating of the ground and the door up ahead.

A door into the unknown. A door into _hell_. I shook the thought lightly. The last thing I needed was a negative outlook.

Devan smiled wryly as he tapped the controls, causing the door to jerk inward a few inches and slide into the floor with the _hiss _of pneumatics. I began to drum my fingers on the but of the machine gun, but stopped when I saw that Dev was looking at me nervously.

This is it, it's all for _this_.

We entered into a concrete corridor with metal panelling on the floor and the door slid back into place behind us and locked. There was a monitor to my right, displaying a flashing message.

**Security lockout. Exit not permitted for use. Use East Gate.**

Wonderful. We could get inside, but we'd have to leave some other way. I was beginning to feel like a pawn, led onward with no intention of my escape in mind.

No. _Our_ escape. Devan was with _me_, not with Umbrella. In the last half-hour, I had gone from loving him, to hating him and back to loving him again.

The corridor stretched ahead of us and turned to the right. Once we rounded the corner, we came to another door, slightly different in design, more _conventional_.

I turned the latch and the door swung inward, allowing us into a large room, smaller rooms adjoining to it, separated by thick windows. On the far side, I could see the heavy doors of an elevator.

Offices. From the looks of it, they were the Security suites, but an emptiness filled the room. I could hear strange noises coming from the air-vents above us; undoubtedly caused by creatures in the bowels of Umbrella's laboratory.

Devan motioned to the nearest office and we stepped inside, sifting through the clutter on the desk. It looked as though there was a struggle and judging from the large bloodstain on the ground, the humans had lost.

A short row of lockers lined the far wall and I approached them, opening the first one. Inside there was a Magnum hanging on a mount, a shelf underneath it with a box full of bullets and four empty magazines which I proceeded to load after setting the machine-gun down.

"Hey Devan, Ammo."

He joined me by the lockers and opened another one, smiling with a child-like quality. "Hey, check it out!"

He drew his hand back from the locker, holding a long, black tinted cylinder. A shotgun. Devan reached inside again and removed a bandoleer strap, slipping extra shells into the spaces on it, before slinging it over his shoulder.

Other than the two guns and ammo, there was little else. A baseball cap with the Umbrella logo, a pack of cigarettes and a small white plastic card with a magnetic strip.

A _keycard_!

I pocketed the thin piece of plastic and turned back to the desk with Devan next to me. My attention was gripped by a small, leather-bound notebook, which I scooped up and started to flip through.

It was a diary.

I flipped to the last entry and read it aloud. "_Man, oh man! Strange noises have been coming from the vents! I'm too fucking scared to even sleep anymore! In the last few days, more and more people have been getting sick and not showing up to work. Today I'm on my own and no one will tell me anything. Sometimes I swear that I can hear voices in the ducts. They don't sound human though._"

A sound snapped me out of the trance I had drifted into.

_Footsteps_.

Dev pressed his finger to his lips, urging me to remain quiet. We ducked behind the desk and the noise passed by, outside of the office. An echoing sound followed as a door was being opened. After a moment I exhaled but our calm was punctuated by a woman's scream. It was high-pitched and urgent.

I stood up and stormed into the main area, but froze. I could feel Dev's presence behind me, but I couldn't move. I couldn't even speak. My voice seemed to have hidden somewhere in my lower intestine; along with my heart and replaced by a painful knot.

The woman was slowly backing toward us as a looming shadow pressed forward. I knew instantly. I knew from the tattered overcoat that hung in shreds over its massive body. I knew from the cold, expressionless face and those black eyes that it was _my_ nightmare. This time I was certain… it grinned _at_ me.

I fought against my nerves, bringing the machine-gun up and firing on the behemoth as the woman stepped beside me. Bullets struck the immense, lumbering form, causing it to shudder and fall backward. I knew it wouldn't be down for long, though. I knew that if something could survive a grenade exploding under it and an avalanche, then a hail of bullets wouldn't stop it.

_Mr. X_ had survived all of this, so I knew that all we could do was run.

The woman turned and bolted for the heavy door behind us, past the Security suites, Devan and myself following quickly behind her. "Hey wait!" I yelled, "Come back!"

She was wearing a containment suit, though lacking the bulky helmet. She turned as the doors opened, beckoning us to get inside the elevator. As they closed, I could see the monster standing up and starting toward us, the same psychotically blank face that haunted us before. Through the dark coat I could see that the skin of it's chest seemed deformed or scarred.

The woman slapped a button on the console and the doors closed. I could feel the elevator begin to descend, the smooth ride interrupted by Mr. X's fists, smashing against the metal. Soon it would give and he would be after us again.

"Ok, who are you?" Devan's voice was firm, though not harsh.

The woman was breathing hard and struggled with the words, in a state of shock. "I'm Dr. Grace Parker, a scientist here."

She was older, maybe forty or so and had brown hair, tied back in a pony-tail.

"You work here?"

The Doctor looked up at me and the expression on her face startled me. It was as if she recognized me. "Are you ok, Doctor?"

Grace didn't answer, but she regained her composure.

Devan grabbed her arm lightly, turning her to face him. "What is going on here?"

She struggled out of his grip before answering. "I didn't know about any of this. There were no warnings. People just started to stop showing up, in the _Gen_-lab anyway." She started to peel the hazard suit from her body, discarding it on the floor. "I stepped out to go talk to Dr. Jenkins, when I was attacked by someone. At first I thought they were just drunk, but the smell was foul... rotten. More people started to follow me and I ran. Then I met you guys. By the way, who _are_ you guys?"

I introduced myself to the woman and told her most of what I had witnessed over the last couple days with Devan. I told her about the creatures, the zombies and _lickers_, as well as Mr. X.

"Where's the East Gate?" My tone was shaky. I still didn't know what to make of her.

She met my gaze, sensing the uncertainty. "It's on the lower level, past the Gen-lab. There's an Evac tunnel down there, for emergencies."

The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened. The nauseating smell of decomposing flesh surrounded us and we could hear the shuffles and moans of the walking dead.

Not wanting to waste ammo, I switched the gun I held to single-shot and stepped out.

My god. They were all over the place.

A zombie nearly touched my arm before I fired, the bullet tunnelling through the zombie's head and striking the wall behind it with a splatter of red and black. Moans echoed all around us as the gruesome forms attempted to swarm us.

Grace ran ahead and disappeared around a corner.

"Hey! Wait!"

Another zombie was nearly on top of me, but a sequence of bullets hit it and splashed thick blood over my shoulder as Devan fired off bursts from his automatic.

I shot him a faint smile. "Thanks."

More zombies. All around us and crowding us with their putrid stench.

I was firing round after round, hitting the closest of the creatures. Devan urged me forward, running just ahead of me, in the same direction as the Doctor.

I leaped over the fallen body of a zombie, but fell to the hard ground as a hand wrapped its fingers around my boot. I flipped over, onto my back and tried to scramble away but the creature held me tightly, teeth getting closer to my leg. Amidst the chaos, I pointed the gun at it and pulled the trigger; overcome by sheer determination and a will to survive.

_Click_.

My gun was empty and fear began to trickle into my mind, clouding my judgement. Drool trickled down my leg and I panicked, swinging the gun down at the creatures head. There was a sickening sound, crushing brittle bone and splattering sticky goo across the floor and in disgust I tossed the heavy weapon. The grasp loosened and I stood, Devan still running a few feet away.

"Dev!"

He turned around, just noticing that I had fallen. I had only been on the ground for seconds, though it felt like longer. Much longer.

"Are you ok?"

I nodded to him and took his hand as we ran down the hall, away from the mob of teeth and loose flesh.

We ducked into the first door we found and locked it behind us. The room was bright and we could tell by the equipment that it was probably the Gen-lab. Along the far wall, there were long glass tubes, filled with a greenish liquid.

There was a bank of computers down the middle of the room, a few of them turned on.

Devan turned to me, bewildered. "What do you think they do here?"

"I don't know. I don't really _want_ to know."

Even feeling the way I did, I still went to the computer. On the screen there was a list of numbers, codes and a string of letters that stretched endlessly. There were only certain letters though. A flash hit me, memories from high school flooding back to me. It was a small portion of mapped-out DNA.

"Hey Nathan, look at this."

I turned away from the monitor and saw that he was holding a clipboard which he handed me. Glancing at it, I could tell that it was a progress report.

My eyes flowed over the pages, information soaking into the fibers of my mind. I was holding something very big and it was only matched by the expression on Devan's face as I asked him one question.

"Devan, who's William Birkin?"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

Devan's shock subsided and he began to tell me about the fate of William Birkin, the creator of the nightmare. Or at least, _one_ of them. Birkin had created the G-Virus, one of the major reasons why Raccoon City was reduced to a crater.

I listened intently to his voice, while my mind slowly dawned as to what was transpiring.

"After the explosion, Birkin was killed."

I looked down at the clipboard in my hands and it all snapped together like the many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Birkin had died and Umbrella was using his DNA to _clone_ him.

_Why_? Why would they want to clone him?

I leafed through the many pages and found a typed progress report.

_Birkin DNA recovered from train. G-Virus found. Extraction accomplished after the stabilization of Birkin DNA, using the DNA of second Subject. Modifications made. Second Subject's DNA utilized for experimentation. Combination of G-Virus and human DNA has interest. New Type grown from that combination. Results will follow soon, with the carrier._

I gave the clipboard to Dev, who read the same thing over. "It says something about the DNA of a second subject… any idea who?"

My attention snapped back to the computer. There would probably be a record there.

I scanned the data logs and stopped when I was confident that I had found what it was that I was looking for. With a click of the mouse, a text file popped up. It was a transcript of the primary operations, describing the process, nearly word for word. It was when I found a name that I paused.

Daniel Silver. _My father_.

My father had been apart of the experiment from the beginning, providing the second sample of DNA, though it didn't say if he used his own or not.

Reading further, I found another name. I read over the name a couple of times, making sure I was seeing what was truly on-screen. Shock swept over me and I turned to Devan, pointing at the name.

_Nathan_ Silver.

My father had used a sample of _my_ DNA in Umbrella's experiments. Something else clicked. The last line of the progress report, '_results will follow soon, with the carrier'_. I was to be the carrier, as my DNA was part of the new Virus. They wanted me, to finish their insane experiment.

"Uh, Dev…we should get out of here."

He stepped behind me, reading over my shoulder and drawing the same conclusion. "Nathan, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

I could hear the concern in his voice and he put his hand on my shoulder. "It's ok, Devan. I just need… to get away from here."

Emotion seemed to leave me, an empty feeling replacing it. Thoughts raced through my mind, causing something to well up inside of me, fighting to be released. Suddenly, a dam burst inside me and it all flooded out. I could feel the tears and I could hear something. It was sobbing. _My_ sobbing. Arms wrapped around me, filling me with warmth and a voice cooed me, comforting me, but I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't stop the tears from streaking my cheeks.

The wave of emotion passed like a tide and I calmed down, though the sadness still occupied me.

Devan whispered into my ear and I did everything I could to hear his words, to allow them to fill my soul.

I took a deep breath and stood, Dev's arm still around me, turning me to face him. His eyes searched mine and he smiled when he found whatever it was he had been looking for. He pulled me into him, kissing me.

Reluctantly, I drew back, looking once again into his eyes. "Let's get these sick bastards."

Devan nodded and I pulled out my Magnum, slapping a new clip into the base of it. With a smug grin, I chambered a round and started for the door with him.

"Well Nate, one thing's for sure; this will make one _hell_ of a story."

We chuckled together, making a sound that I had all but forgotten in the chaos. The feeling, however; was lost when we entered the hall once again, surrounded by the sounds of hungry zombies and the gut-wrenching smell of decay.

A lone zombie stood in our way down the hall and I dispatched it quickly with a spray of thick red goo. We stepped passed the incapacitated walking corpse and came to another door, though it was locked.

On the wall next to it, there was a card reader and I remembered the thin plastic keycard I had in my pocket. I pulled it out and swiped it and there was a _beep_, followed by the sound of metal across metal as the door slid away, inviting us inside.

We entered onto a catwalk, the ground far below, hidden by darkness. At the other end, there was another door and we ran to it, stepping through it once it opened for us.

Inside was dark, but there was _some_ light. There was also something _else_. There was the raspy breathing of a Licker.

I strained my eyes in the dark, trying to spot it before it could strike and saw the form in the shadows. It stirred and I fired multiple shots, casting brief flashes of light around the room, making something else visible as well. Something green. Something that coated the walls and ceiling.

The Licker screeched in pain; its' pitiful life seizing in the hail of gunfire.

Devan moved past me, toward the only other door in the small octagonal room, pressing the release switch. The door slid away and we were blanketed in neon light. We could see the green mass which occupied the room, reminiscent of jungle vines, though much, much bigger.

We walked into the corridor and entered the only room inside. The door read **'Botany Department'**.

Inside looked like a mad scientist's greenhouse. Large, glass containers contained plants, the size and relative shape of human beings. Whip-like tendrils smacked loudly against the glass as they opened their buds, revealing rows of razor-sharp thorns, which lined their crimson maws like crocodile teeth.

"What the fuck…" I trailed off.

Other glass containers were shattered, the contents long gone and a clear, jelly-like slime on the floor that left a clean, almost earthy smell to the otherwise sterile environment.

A table caught my attention, or rather what was on the table. A flame-thrower.

Devan picked the weapon up, handing me the shotgun. I slipped the Magnum back through the belt on my jeans and cradled the long weapon.

"It's full." He said, testing the weapon's weight in his arms.

I walked across the lab to an opening in the corner, leading into the next room. I could hear something sliding around inside and thought it was probably the escaped experiments. Dev moved ahead of me and we stepped inside.

In the square room, an office, the plant-thing stood in the corner, wrapped in its vine-like tendrils. Devan squeezed the thick trigger of the flame-thrower and with a spark and a stream of flame, blanketed the monster with a plume of acrid smelling fire, shrivelling the creature's membranous outer skin.

There was a high-pitched squeal, as gases escaped the plant's body, causing the flames to grow and rapidly consume the creature. Its body shrank and dried and soon after the plant stopped thrashing.

When we were certain that it was dead, we stepped through the next door, met with the smell of death and the sight of two zombies. I aimed the shotgun, pumped it and fired, blowing the arm off one and decapitating the second. I pumped the weapon again, satisfied at the sound it made as I fired again, finishing off the zombie who still stood, obliterating the upper half of its torso.

We were standing in another corridor with a large door at the end. Devan hit the release and the door parted in two pieces, sliding to either side. It was a vast room with a bank of computers, with a lone figure standing in the room. We stepped inside and the figure turned, allowing us to see _him_. With a loud _clang_, the doors behind us closed and locked.

The man smiled, his face strange. Almost skull-like. "Welcome to my home, the place of my birth."

I stepped toward him a few paces and his features became clear. He was a grotesque caricature of a human being. He was bald, his skin pasty and his eyes were anything but human. Where a person's eyes would be, there were two orange orbs with black slits. His nose seemed non-existent and a fleshy mass stretched across it, down to his neck, underneath a white lab-coat.

"Who are you?"

He smiled, a sight that made me sick to my stomach. "I am Dr. Birkin."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

The man who'd once been William Birkin stood nearly seven feet tall and thundered toward me.

"Oh Nathan, I'm so glad you came here. You have spared me great suffering in your _acquisition_." The monster howled in laughter, a sound that chilled my blood.

I raised the shotgun and fired, the slug hitting Birkin in the chest, but he did not waver. He kept moving closer, his footsteps loud, piercing my mind, _terrifying_ me.

Devan sprayed flame over the creature and it bellowed in a tone of anger. "Nate, let's go!"

I nodded to the blonde and ran with him, past the malformed scientist, to a door at the far side of the large room. As we stepped through, there was a deafening roar as Birkin turned to chase us.

I didn't dare to stop running, the being of horror on our tails. Devan seemed calm when I looked over at him, though I couldn't understand why.

Perhaps he knew to just keep his head. I wish I had the same strength.

The long corridor twisted us around many times, before coming to another door, marked with the Biohazard symbol. Without a second thought, I released the lock and ducked inside, more afraid of the danger that _chased_ us, then the danger that could face us.

The room was large and circular, cluttered with equipment that I could never understand. In the center of everything, hanging by cables and metal supports, was a glass cylinder with something inside.

Something _familiar_.

"Nate….It's you."

I saw it also, a human being – no not human – inhuman, suspended in green liquid and it looked like me. It was hairless, though I could see myself in it, as if seeing a reflection.

"What the hell…_why_ would they…" my words froze in my throat.

The door opened behind us and Birkin entered loudly. "I see you've met my prize creation. The first of his kind and the _template_ for everything after."

I turned to the maniacal abomination, met by his hellish gaze.

"I call him Genesis, creator of a new beginning, a new…_World_."

My gaze shot back to the tube, "Why do you need me then? Why bring me here?"

Birkin smiled, the smile that could kill by sheer repulsion. "_Why?_ Because he is imperfect."

The last word rang in my ears and I struggled to retain its meaning.

Birkin walked over to a console and pressed a sequence of controls which lowered the tube to the floor. With another set of keyed-in commands, the _hiss_ of gas could be heard and the seal broke at the bottom, allowing the fluid to escape, pouring into the grated floor. The tube rose slowly to its original position, the being curled under it. _Genesis_.

Slowly, the naked form began to move, opening its eyes and staring at me. _Into_ me. With a sense of grace, it stood, stretching; then gallivanted over, stopping a few feet in front of me.

It still looked into me.

It _recognized_ me.

My mind reeled, barely able to cope with what I saw.

Birkin spoke, pulling Genesis' attention to him. "Ah yes, the ultimate _G-Type_, the very pinnacle of what I had been attempting to accomplish. The perfect being. _My_ perfect being… after a few… _adjustments_."

Genesis turned back to me briefly, his calm stare falling back on Birkin. With no hint of motive, the being's face turned to a grimace and he _screamed_. A scream that held more anger than anything else.

His body shuddered and I could see the muscle ripple beneath his skin, changing. A wave seemed pass down his arms, exploding from his hands in a flash of flesh and tissue, growing into massive talons.

With a tremendous display of agility and ferocity, Genesis lunged at the grotesque scientist, ripping at him with his claws and shredding his creator.

Birkin didn't see the attack coming and made no sound as he died, his dark blood pooling on the cold metal floor.

I couldn't speak. I couldn't even blink.

I stared in horror and fascination, as Genesis' form returned to its prior shape, looming over the remains of the scientist.

He turned and looked into me once again, seeking something. Suddenly, a sound pierced the silence. It was a plea, a desperate cry for understanding and it came from the being before us.

"_WHAT_ AM I!?"

I wanted to answer. I struggled to answer, but I couldn't think of anything.

Genesis collapsed to his knees, staring at his hands, then looking back up at me, the same pleading look in his eyes. In the blink of an eye, he had gone from a ferocious creature… to a scared boy.

I took a step forward, but felt Devan's hand on my arm. I turned to him and mouthed the words '_it will be alright'_, then approached the sobbing form.

I knelt in front of Genesis and met his watery gaze. Again he asked his question between tears of pain. "What am I?"

I could feel his sadness and struggled to hold down tears of my own. "I don't know…" Genesis fell into my arms and Dev knelt beside us, holding a hazard suit. "I found this." I took it from him and urged the pained form to slip into it, which he did, calming down.

I wrapped my fingers, gently around his now-gloved wrists and urged him to follow us, to leave this hell and he obeyed, saying nothing.

There was a large door across from the entrance and we moved towards it, not daring to glance back. With the push of a button, the heavy door split, sliding away to either side and we stepped through into the corridor. At the far end, there was another door with bold letters stenciled on it in red, reading **'East Gate'**.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

I slammed the controls for the heavy barrier and it parted, allowing us to step through. I turned to Genesis; Umbrella's _masterpiece_, but he did not follow. His face was full of pain and I knew that he would rather stay and _die_, than join us and live.

The doors closed with a loud _clang_ and he was lost from sight.

Devan grabbed my arm and pulled me onward, "Come on!"

I didn't fight, but a sadness swept through me, consuming me. With reluctance, I turned away and entered the greasy-smelling space.

We were in a vehicle bay and we made our way over to a jeep. I could hot-wire it, no problem, then we could leave this nightmare and keep going.

_Footsteps_.

I turned and swallowed hard. "Dr. Parker! You're alive!"

She held a gun, the barrel moving between Dev and myself. "I can't let you leave here! I can't let you destroy years of hard work!"

"What?" My voice cracked, barely a whisper of itself.

"I want to _finish_ the experiment. I want you to stay and complete _your_ part in this."

Her knuckles turned white, as her grip on the gun tightened.

"Genesis isn't perfect. His cellular structure will collapse within the week. You will be the next carrier for Genesis." Grace laughed as she delivered the final line.

There was a loud crash, metal tearing and sparks filling the room. Acrid smoke poured out of a multitude of different places and choked the cramped vehicle bay.

Footsteps thundered throughout the room and a form materialized in the midst of the chaos. It was the unstoppable juggernaut, Mr. X.

Grace turned, stunned, as a huge clawed fist arched through the air, striking the scientist in her mid-section and she was sent across the room, crashing in to a grouping of fuel drums loudly.

He lumbered toward me and I hefted the shotgun, overwhelmed with a sense of futility as I pumped the weapon.

Devan stopped me, yelling something. I could barely hear his pleads, my mind focused on the towering abomination before me.

"There's leaking gas all over the place! If you fire, you'll kill us all!"

He was right, I could smell it and I could hear running liquid. I turned to where Grace had fallen and saw that the containers had toppled, bursting their fluids about the room. One spark could send this place up.

Devan grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me in the direction of a jeep. "Let's get out of here!"

The sheer logic of his reasoning took hold of me, more securely than his grip and we climbed into the nearest vehicle with Mr. X. hot on our trail.

I tore at the steering column and it took me long moments to hot-wire it, but the engine finally rumbled to life. I stepped on the gas and aimed for the dark tunnel ahead, wanting nothing more than to escape.

In the rear-view mirror, I could see the monstrous creature turning, moving for Dr. Parker. I could see her too. I could see her move, still alive. I could see her reach into her coat and pull out a small black object which looked like a cell-phone.

A sudden explosion ripped through the facility, heard around us in a million places at once. I could feel heat closing in on us and everything went orange, the light of the plume following close behind us.

Ahead there was light and I realized it was the end of the tunnel, causing my focus to switch to the escape. The dire need to live. To survive.

Sunlight washed over us as we broke from the tunnel and I spun the jeep onto the road and drove, bouncing heavily and finally settling.

The fireball erupted behind us with a loud crashing sound and shrank, though the sound remained.

_Rumbling_.

Rock and dirt was collapsing into the deep void where Umbrella's lab had once been, but I couldn't have cared less.

My mind was on the road, taking us away from the horror and the nightmare.

Up ahead, I could make out the lit sign of a Motel and made for it as the sun set softly.

It was deserted, devoid of life.

A lone zombie shuffled back and forth in front, but Devan drew his automatic and squeezed off a few rounds, the bullets striking it in the back of the head. It fell to its knees as we pulled into the dusty parking lot and we could read the sign clearly.

'**Hell's Gate Motel'**.

We disembarked and entered the lobby, grabbing a room key.

"Nate, one day this will all have been just a bad dream."

I believed him. It was a bad dream, but I knew that it would eventually be seen as nothing more. "I'm glad we made it. I love you."

Dev smiled and opened the door to our room. "I love you too."

We settled in and curled up on the bed together, making an effort to get some sleep. Devan dozed off in my arms and I stared at the ceiling, thinking about the recent events.

Would it ever stop? _Could_ it ever stop? Are there others who are battling this very same thing?

I knew the answers to the first two, having grown up watching horror movies.

It _never_ ended.

The horror was never over; the monsters, killers, ghouls, ghosts, vampires, zombies… they all returned in sequels and remakes… always.

I smiled at the irony of it. Of everything.

Sleep began to take its hold, my eyelids closing, comfort washing in.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

I had been driving for hours, but it paid off. We had left Hell's Gate that morning and sidetracked to an alternate Highway, intent on reaching Vancouver. We were filled with a calmness at the thought of returning home.

Neither of us knew what to expect back home. There would probably some sort of resistance that we could join and take back the city.

_Who knows._ The city could have been abandoned by the creatures, left to the humans to claim, or maybe the humans already overcame the creatures…_who knows._

We'd just have to get there and see for ourselves... find out where we stood.

The road was dark at night, lit up only by the jeep's headlights, giving us the impression of driving through emptiness.

So desolate.

So dark.

So _evil._

The people responsible would pay. They would pay for making me live through this horror show and pay for trying to give it to the rest of the world.

I looked over at Dev beside me and placed my hand on his leg.

He smiled. The smile that can melt a heart.

The smile that says nothing but love, and gives me hope.

A thought crossed my mind; the rules of every horror movie… the one greatest rule: the lovers who meet under dire circumstances, prevail over the evil.

I chuckled and Devan smiled. "What is it?"

I stared straight ahead and smiled again. "Every thing's going to be just fine."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck. **

The sound of the engine had become so familiar, that I couldn't even imagine a time where it had not been there.

There _had_ been a time though.

Monday.

It hasn't even been a week, evading creatures and mad scientists. Then, of course, there was Amanda. The poor soul who should have had the chance to live, but because of me, died.

I should have been able to protect her. It was my job to protect her and I failed.

Our plan to trap Mr. X. would have been perfect, but things went wrong. I didn't think about the number of shots she had already fired and because of that, she's dead.

_Her death was my fault._

Tears didn't start to flow. I didn't cry. I was so desensitized to the horrors, that I _couldn't_ cry.

I couldn't shed one tear for her. I could only worry about Devan and myself.

It felt like I was unable to care for the dead anymore... that there were simply too many. I had never seen so much blood.

_Too_ much.

I was drifting off at the wheel, so Dev urged me to pull into a motel. Like clockwork, practised many times over, we took a key from the lobby and found ourselves a room.

Deserted. Every key hung on the corkboard, telltale that no one had been there for a while.

We were somewhere in the Fraser Valley, not far from Vancouver and we would wait until sunrise to leave.

Looking around, I smiled. _No dust._

There was no fine beige dust, no sand and no dirt…anywhere. The desert was behind us, save for in our clothes and our pores.

I took Devan's hand, leading him to our room and opened the door.

It was nice. The room was tidy and clean. No blood. No bodies… dead or undead.

What a thought…_no blood anywhere_. No screams… just silence.

Devan jumped onto the bed and smiled, broadly. "Oh god yeah. This is nice."

He stretched his body out and revelled in the comfort.

I set the guns down on a chair and untied my boots, groaning loudly with pleasure as I slipped them off. It felt great.

Would this be how it felt to get home? Relaxing for once and being happy?

Devan's smile didn't leave his face and he made no effort to move as I pulled the dusty and worn shirt from over my head. I reached over, undid his boots as well and pulled them off, before climbing onto the bed with him.

Devan turned his head toward mine and spoke, his voice a whisper. "A moment's peace."

I kissed him softly, my hand brushing against his cheek. "A moment's peace."

His hand started to move along my chest, a sensation that sent shivers across my body. I smiled, my gaze never leaving his and leaned in for another kiss before pulling him off the bed and into the narrow bathroom, taking the time to get the shower just hot enough before stripping down and stepping under the running water.

He kissed me again and that kiss led to another that stretched into the night amongst much more.

I awoke to Devan's smile. He kissed my forehead, running his hands through my hair. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too." I smiled. Last night was fresh in my mind. His embraces, his kisses, his caresses… all of it.

I yawned loudly and sat up, rubbing my eyes. Devan's arm still draped around me, his hands sliding along my shoulder blades.

I needed the peace of the moment. Without the peace, I would probably fail again. I shook the thought away, Amanda's face fading into the background of my thoughts. Right then there was only me and Dev.

Devan chuckled and pulled me into an embrace. "I'm putting this Motel on my 'favoured motel' list."

I chuckled at the thought as well. "Wait a minute… you have a list?"

Dev smiled. "Well, I do now."

The two of us stood and we each picked our clothes off the floor. I slipped into my my jeans, annoyed at how dirty they felt and pulled the tight t-shirt back over my chest. "Y'know Dev, I can't wait to get home. It's been four days since I've changed. I'm really going to like peeling these clothes off for good."

Devan did up his belt and slipped his shirt on as well, grimacing at much the same. "For good? Thinking of becoming a nudist?"

I laughed and quipped back sarcastically. "Yeah. I think I've outlived clothing at this point."

Devan chuckled. "You just keep 'em coming…" He tried to stop himself, but too late, I grinned widely.

"Well, what do you want to do?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Let's go see what's left."

He nodded and stood after having laced his boots. I looked up at him and smiled. I'm glad I could smile. I'm glad I had a reason to smile.

With that thought fresh in my mind, we set out.

The sun was much nicer in the valley, than in the desert. In the desert it was sweltering, but here it was nice. There was a breeze that didn't warm the skin, but cooled it instead.

Devan drove us forward, toward the City. Into something that was both familiar and unknown at the same time. It was the unknown that frightened me. I was scared of what could happen to me. I was scared of what could happen to _him_.

I didn't want to die. I wouldn't die. I just won't allow myself to die and I _will not_ let Devan die either. The fear was too much and it made me angry… desperate to survive.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

We entered the city along Boundary Road and Dev sighed. Looking around, I could understand, adding my own frustrated noise to the mix.

There were overturned cars, fires and corpses between what looked to be make-shift barricades.

I was about to say something, when a form barrelled into the side of the jeep, tipping it and with a loud crash, we landed awkwardly on our sides.

Devan unfastened his seat belt and climbed out, grabbing a gun.

"Devan, I'm stuck!"

A loud growl, almost a roar, pierced my mind. "What the hell was that?"

Devan started firing off shots from the shotgun at something I couldn't see. I struggled to get free and panicked, pulling out the Magnum and shot the latch on the side of the seat with a loud _bang_.

With a twang, it broke free and I fell, crashing down onto the steering wheel. "Fuck!" My chest hurt, but I managed to get to my feet, leveling the Magnum's ten-inch barrel.

In the middle of the road, amidst the gunshots, was the vague representation of a dog.

It was about twelve feet long, with a row of spines down its back and had teeth the length of a person's arm.

It was hideous and it was _very angry._

It snarled and lunged, but the explosive bursts from the weapons kept it at bay, tearing chunks of flesh from the bones and spattering blood through the street. "We can't keep this up for long!"

I fired another shot at the beast's head, aiming for the eye.

I missed, aimed again and fired… and missed again.

Devan fired another blast, causing the monster to roar in anger and charge at us, thick drool pouring from its jaws.

I aimed again, taking a steadying breath and pulled the trigger, envisioning a zipping bullet, screaming toward the target. The creature's eye exploded from the impact and it squealed, falling forward with momentum and gushing blood all over the ground.

I took a few steps forward and rested the Magnum's barrel against its head and fired. With a loud _bang_ and the thundering crunch of shattering bone, the monstrosity went limp, blood spurting from the multitude of wounds.

"Woah, that was getting close!" Devan checked the chamber of the shotgun, his eyes widening.

"Well, this puppy was put down."

My gun had emptied, and I replaced the magazine with a fresh clip.

Devan returned to my side and put his arm around my waist, pointing at the jeep with his other hand. "Well, looks like we're walking."

"Yeah. It does, doesn't it." There was _some_ humour in my tone, but the words left my mouth through a sigh of exasperation.

We were quite a ways from where I lived, but we'd get there. It just would have been easier with the jeep.

A noise caused Devan to turn, holding the shotgun in his hands tightly. The moan gave it away.

A zombie shuffled out of an alley and stalked toward us and without hesitation I fired, sending the foul creature into a bloody spin.

More moans, more shuffles.

Devan waited for a few of them to be in a group and fired his automatic, blowing bits off of the walking corpses. Blood was spraying over the asphalt and Dev continued to fire, finishing the four forms off.

I was choosing my shots as we ran, picking off the undead creatures with a systematic bullet-to-the-head as they drew near and trying to conserve ammunition.

We saw a construction site ahead and we bolted for it, while a mob of zombies formed to follow us with their pitiful wails.

"Quick! We can lock 'em out!" Even as Dev said that, we were already inside the perimeter fence and closing it tightly behind us.

I turned and a wave of panic struck me. "Oh god Devan, it's an Umbrella construction project!"


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.**

The evidence was plain in sight, captured in a six-foot billboard reading**; Vancouver, the future home of Umbrella Inc. Pharmaceuticals**_._

"Oh shit, Nathan."

There was a strange humming noise in the darkness beyond and a form started to emerge.

_I always hated bees._

Two yellow and black forms, ten feet in length flew awkwardly in our direction and we started firing. They didn't seem able to fly as much as bounce with the aid of their malformed wings, but they made steady progress to close the distance between them and us.

"Devan! Run!"

I turned to bolt, but felt a crushing weight on my back, forcing me to the ground as one of them landed on me from behind.

I shifted beneath the creature, flipping onto my back. I could see the stinger, nearly a foot long and barbed, positioning for a strike.

"Oh shit!"

I shoved the gun against the monster's head and it bucked in my grip, while yellowish fluid sprayed from the top of its head. After one last spasm, the bee went limp on top of me. I was stuck, pinned beneath the abomination.

The humming was still pretty close to me. I turned my head and saw it, the other bee was crawling on its spindly legs toward me.

There was a deafening blast, as a shotgun flared off to my right, striking the bee in the side and causing it to spew the alien ooze over the ground.

The stench was sickening and I tried to wriggle out from under the form of the monster above me, but I couldn't. Suddenly it started to shift, pushed aside by Devan as I heaved from below.

"Thank god you're alright!"

I stood, still a little shaky. "Yeah, I'm fine. Well, there's one good thing," I chuckled, "I faced my fear of bees!"

Devan laughed and we started to explore, attempting to decide what to do.

The site was littered with heavy machinery; bulldozers, backhoes, cranes… and heavy power-tools.

"Hey Dev, we could use the bulldozer like a tank and drive along Broadway. It's so strong, that we could knock down barricades and crush anything in our way."

He nodded at my idea and we went to work, but were interrupted by a loud crash, exploding sparks from a generator, followed by thundering footsteps.

Since the beginning of the nightmare, he had been there, following me into hell and back… my nemesis.

Mr. X.

He stalked toward us with determination, the cold expression on his face clearly visible in the light of day, though he seemed different. He no longer wore the overcoat and his bulky arms ended in terrifyingly long claws.

"Um Nathan… we should run!"

I agreed. I was scared _shitless_.

Nothing stopped him. He was relentless.

Mr. X. stepped forward on a march of death, approaching the ruined forms of the bees and an idea formed.

"Devan! I'll bait him and you try to get underneath one of the bees! When I tell you to…" Devan cut me off.

"I know what to do."

I turned to the monster. "Hey you ugly piece of genetic waste! Over here!" It came from instinct, though I didn't need to yell. It would come for me anyway.

Devan scrambled off to one of the insect corpses and edged underneath the beast's massive abdomen. "I'm ready!"

I ran to Dev's position and Mr. X. followed me, the look on his face ever-unchanging, his black eyes as determined as ever.

He was close to me. I could feel his heavy, clawed arms barely miss me as I jogged over to the bee, I could feel his footsteps reverberate through the ground. I could see Devan underneath the insect, watching my every move.

I jumped over the tapered shell of the bee and Mr. X. lunged. Devan raised the bee's abdomen and met the juggernaut in the chest with the stinger, impaling him.

Dev scrambled out and we gathered distance, turning to watch. The huge, lumbering form of Mr. X. began to swell, the poisons filling his body. His skin began to rip and tear, blood pouring from his wounds and soon he exploded, the gases in him building too much. Pieces of the behemoth were flung around the site and all that remained was the red smear that had been my nemesis.

_He was gone for good that time._

Devan was breathing hard and wrapped his arm around me. "I'm beat! Let's get out of here!"

"Good plan, Dev… let's go. Say… you think he got the point?"

Dev groaned and shook his head. "That was just bad."

Moans breached the day's silence, as zombies poured through the opening in the fence that Mr. X. had made. We turned to the bulldozer and climbed aboard and took occasional shots at the snarling masses of decayed flesh as they drew near.

The key was still in the ignition and I turned it, the engine roaring to life. With a few lurching starts, I finally figured out how to drive it and pressed forward, into the crowd of corpses.

Zombies fell beneath the metal hulk, crushed by the caterpillar treads of the dozer and ground into a fine paste. Devan took potshots every-so-often and we crashed onto Broadway, heading for home.

The sun beat down on our shoulders and we slowly pushed forward, smashing the occasional zombie to the road. I was surprised that it didn't seem as bad as we thought.

Devan was standing directly behind me, one arm draped over my shoulder and he pointed ahead.

In front of Van-Tech Secondary school, we could see a makeshift barricade and littered corpses. People looked out at us through the windows and we stopped. "Hey Devan, there's living people here!"

Before Dev could even usher a response, the school's main doors opened and a mob of people flooded onto the street. There was around thirty, or so and most of them carried weapons.

I looked up into Devan's eyes and saw, for the first time in a while, the glint of hope. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me.

"I said we'd make it."

I smiled back and watched the crowd gather around us. He was right. We would make it. But this was far from over.

~~ 


	13. Prologue: Castaway

**CASTAWAY**

**Prologue: Welcome to the world of survival horror.**

April, 2002.

The Waiter returned with my drink and I paid him, tipping generously for the gin-tonic before taking a sip of the clear, fizzy liquid. It was a brilliant afternoon in Costa Rica and I smiled to Steph who sat across from me wearing a sarong and bikini top, in a vibrant series of blues and purples.

We had arrived the night before, exhilarated about our trip; and checked into a hotel a short distance from the bar we now sat in. Our father had given us his corporate credit card for a two-week vacation in the sun, away from the bustle of urban life.

I adjusted my sunglasses and sipped my drink again. "Don't you want anything?"

Steph smiled and shook her head. "You know I can't drink before three."

I chuckled lightly and leaned over to her. "It's three somewhere in the world."

She looked off into the distance then met my gaze again, taking a moment to peek at the time on her cell-phone before slipping it back into her purse. "Besides, we just got here and there's so much to do. C'mon lil' brother, drink up. Let's go hit the beach and do more then just sit here getting plastered."

I nodded and drank the rest of my cocktail, standing up and grabbing my backpack from under the table; and flashing a quick smile to the dark-skinned waiter as we passed him.

We walked onto the street and over to the dusty grey jeep we had rented, Steph climbing into the driver's seat. She started the engine and we set out, heading for a beach that not many people frequented, being some distance out of the way. The bartender at the hotel had told us about it, giving directions to Stephanie _after_ she tipped him generously.

The road was lined with jungle on one side, and the ocean stretched off into the horizon on the other, inspiring awe. We came to a dusty turn-off and pulled in, turning the engine off and disembarking. I grabbed my backpack and turned to Steph, who stood for a moment, taking in the scenic beauty. "Don't you want your bag?"

She shook her head. "It's fine. I don't think it'll go missing."

We could hear the rhythmic crash of the surf and we descended a thin path through mangroves, onto the untouched white sand of the beach. The sun sent cascades of brilliant colour over the water and for a second I was stunned, standing in the humid light of midday.

You can't see this in a city. Even if went to the beach there, it's still the city.

"I'm glad I didn't miss this. What would I do without my big sis!"

Steph laughed as she took her shoes off. "You'd die of boredom before you reach twenty-three."

The sun warmed my skin and I could feel beads of sweat begin to form on my chest. I unbuttoned the bright, red and orange Acapulco shirt I wore and slipped it off, tucking it through a belt-loop on my shorts and ran to catch up with Steph down the beach as if the sand threatened to scorch my bare feet if I stood still too long.

We rounded a bend and froze, seeing a forty-foot boat; rusted over and partially beached.

"Holy shit," I muttered, walking toward the vessel. Steph followed behind me, but stopped at the side, trying to read the ship's name, hidden beneath the thick grime from the sea. I walked around to the boarding ladder at the rear and turned to her. "You going to come aboard?"

She shook her head. "Nah, actually I think we should go and report this."

I climbed up and leaned over the railing, running my fingers through my hair and adjusting my sunglasses. "Why don't you go call the Police and I'll just look around."

Steph stood for a moment then nodded. "Sure, just be careful. I'll wait at the jeep for the Police to arrive. Shouldn't be longer than a half-hour."

She turned and walked off, disappearing around the bend shortly after.

The boat was cramped and beat up, with two decks; and debris littered the rear. I walked over to the door leading into the steering room and opened it, gasping at the hideous smell that wafted out, seeping into my clothes. It was like raw shellfish that had been left in the sun for days; and it caused my eyes to water.

I took a deep breath as I stepped inside -- and froze. My stomach felt heavy in an instant, but as much as I wanted to leave… something inside pushed me to keep going.

A man lay in the corner, soaked in blood and his body seemed _gouged_. The sight made me drop to the floor, nauseous.

A noise from somewhere below me caught my attention and I stood quickly, caught off guard. In another corner of the room, a ladder led below deck; down into the darkness of the engine room. I scooped a flashlight from a clamp on the wall and descended carefully, turning it on and bathing the tight space with a yellow glow as I reached the bottom.

"Hello?" I asked, tracing the beam around the dank room; over the engine and over a row of lockers. I stopped when I saw that one locker had been left open, a bloody hand print left on the dull grey metal. Another noise caused me to spin and along the beam I saw a rat scurry around the rusted bulk of the engine, disappearing from sight.

I turned back to the locker and inside I found a manual, a handgun, two boxes of bullets for a 9mm; and another for a rifle. The long weapon rested on the floor beside the locker. There was also a compass and a map, folded up in a zip-lock bag and I turned back to the ladder and began to climb back above deck.

Suddenly the boat rocked violently and I lost my grip, falling back and hitting my head on a piece of machinery. I crawled over to the wall and rested up against it, wincing in pain.

Slightly winded, I rose and rubbed my head, groaning softly. My forehead throbbed, but I paid no attention as the boat continued to rock.

Struggling to keep my balance I made my way to the ladder and climbed up, stopping as I realized that the trap door had closed and jammed when I tried pushing on it with a free hand. "Fuck!"

Using my shoulder; I tried to ram it, but slipped, falling to the hard ground below, the flashlight rolling off to my left somewhere. When the fogginess in my head cleared, I saw that the lamp had rolled underneath something big and metal, with no way to retrieve it. Aside from the thin beam of light, I was trapped in the near-pitch blackness of the engine room.

An idea struck me and I grabbed the rifle, lifting it up and pulling the trigger when I was sure I was aimed at the right spot.

_Click._

"Dammit! This fucking thing's empty!" I was on the verge of tossing the weapon across the room, when I remembered that there was ammunition in the locker. I grabbed seven bullets and loaded them, putting everything else from the locker into my bag and zipping it tightly shut. Once again I aimed and a satisfying blast lit up the engine room, followed by the crunch of the wooden trapdoor, sending splinters in every direction.

Sunlight streaked in and a wave of happiness drifted over me. I climbed to the deck above and looked out the port-side window where my smile and joy faded, replaced by an overwhelming sense of dread. The mainland was far away.

I was drifting out to sea.


	14. Part 2, Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: **

**You have once again entered the world of survival horror. **

**Good luck.**

Panic was starting to take hold and a certain fear washed over me. I didn't know the first thing about driving a boat.

My focus drifted across a panel in front of me and I almost cheered when I saw a switch marked '**starter**'. I flipped it and heard the engine turn over, sputtering a few times and finally rumbling to life. A moment later, the engine made a choking sound and a small sign flashed.

**Low Fuel**_._

I sighed and slammed the panel in frustration. When it seemed that nothing else could go wrong, the engine made a final cough and died, black smoke wafting from below deck.

"Damn."

A radio caught my attention and I picked up the receiver and cursed, not even hearing static – the device dead. I tossed the receiver against the wall and crumpled to the floor, holding my knees in tight, staring at the lifeless form across from me.

Fuck. Why had I been so impulsive? After seeing the body, I should've gone and told her… I shouldn't have stayed aboard.

_Something about the body caused me to flinch._

I could have sworn it _twitched_.

My whole body froze up, paralyzed with fear and, as I looked upon the mangled form, it slowly started to move.

His fingers clenched, scratching at the wood of the deck, and his head tilted as he put his weight onto one arm, trying to stand. My legs started to tremble and before I realized, I was crawling towards the door; wishing to get as far away as I could.

Halfway out the door something caught my ankle, wrenching it and struggling to drag me back. I pawed at the deck, relentlessly trying to grip the smooth surface and a sudden jerk of the boat caused me to roll over.

The man was nearly on top of me, his eyes white and glazed and his arm outstretched, reaching for my face, while his other gripped the meat of my calf. He opened his mouth and moaned horribly, blood frothing from his throat in a _gurgle_.

I tried to move back, away from the cracked and bloody teeth; away from the stench of death, but _its_ grip was too strong. Spastically, I drove my foot out and met the thing in the jaw with a wet crunch, crushing the lower half of its face. Blood seeped over the skin of my leg and out through the fresh wound. The creature's grip loosened with another violent rock of the ship and I scrambled backwards, away from the sickening mess.

I was on the verge of a complete breakdown and reached for my mouth, throwing up over the bloodied deck. I tried to stand on shaky legs and spotted something in the distance, out the window. It was a peculiar line on the horizon, a growing dark mass, just above sea level.

The waves started to get rough and the small boat was thrown around, disorienting me and threatening to trow me off my feet. Every time that I stood and looked out the window, the beach was closer until finally the boat hit shore abruptly. I wasn't prepared for the impact and was thrown through the empty space where the windshield had been, landing hard on the other side. I felt a searing pain in my head and was overcome with a wave of dizziness.

Darkness flooded over me.

My vision began to clear and soon colour made its way into my mind, as did the rank odor of the blood and vomit in the hot sun. I forced myself to my feet and looked over the bow of the boat. The beach was deserted.

I could hear the cries of sea-birds, over the roar of the surf, as well as the noises of other jungle life. It was something from a dream… primal and in spite of its beauty, it scared me shitless.

I felt a thin stream of warmth trickle down my nose and saw a drop of crimson hit the deck at my feet. A large metal box seemed to call to me; a red-cross clearly visible on one side of the dented and worn out case.

I opened it up and found a first-aid kit, a bottle of water and a flare-gun. I put everything in the backpack and wiped the blood from my forehead, cleaning the small cut above my eye. A twinkle caught my gaze and I retrieved my sunglasses from the deck at my feet, slipping the silver frames back on and shielding my eyes from the painfully bright sun.

With a breath I tossed my backpack over the railing with the rifle and jumped, wanting to get far away from the corpse and landed on the beach, falling to my knees. I could feel the heat of the afternoon sun on my neck and sighed. It was hotter here than back on the mainland; and the heat only intensified the nausea I felt.

There was nothing on the beach, save for rocks and boulders, at the bottom of a sheer cliff-face. Off to the right, however; was a cave, leading upward in darkness and I made my way over to it, awkwardly adjusting the weight on my back as I went.

I stopped at the cave's entrance and sipped from the bottle of lukewarm water that had settled to the bottom of my bag, steadying my nerves, then forced myself forward after zipping the bottle safely inside the backpack once more.

The wind howled through the pitch-black maw, billowing around me and sending shivers up my spine. Fear tickled me with paranoid thoughts of what could be in the cave with me, hiding; waiting for the perfect time to attack and devour me, gripping me with cold, gnarled fingers… I forced the thoughts away, trying to focus.

"C'mon Jamie, get a grip." My voice sounded shaky and the words echoed around me in the gloom.

The cave was steep and the gound was thankfully smooth, my bare feet carefully testing each step before I committed to the step. It was dark and foreboding, but began to lighten as I neared the end and I saw that the walls were lined with industrial pipes. The cave opened up onto a path and the pipes disappeared into the ground, through a grouping of holes, lined with concrete.

I walked along the path as it led through dense jungle and stopped to put on my shirt and cursed, finding it to be missing. I knelt and opened my backpack, pulling out a can of peanuts which I snacked on while continuing to rummage, then swore again in frustration.

Of course, I didn't think to bring another shirt with me.

A noise in the underbrush caused me to look up. There was another crash in the jungle and I un-slung the rifle, quickly raising it. Slowly I set the rifle down long enough to close my backpack, shouldering it quietly before slowly retrieving the weapon. My muscles were tense and I just knelt there, listening… hoping that whatever it was, was gone. The jungle returned to its normal symphony and I stood, continuing down the path.

The dirt trail twisted along through the thick vegetation and I was suddenly aware of a horrible smell. It was the same putrid stink that I had smelled on the boat, before finding the body… the smell of death.

Something crashed through the underbrush beside me and a weight slammed into me. I spun and was faced with a torn face that had once been human. In horror I backed away as it reached out to me, growling through crusted lips and blackened teeth and staring into me with the same lifeless, white eyes as the man on the boat. In a panicked frenzy I swung the butt of the rifle, hitting the grotesque form in the face with it; and it tumbled loudly to one side, out of sight.

Breathing heavily I started to move away, then turned and ran down the path, soaked in sweat only partly caused by the heat. What the hell was going on?

Panicking, I looked back over my shoulder and kept running, away from the creature that could only be described in one way; but I refused to think it. It just _wasn't_ possible.

Eventually I came to a fence, the gate resting open and ran through, turning to close it with shaky hands. The path let out onto a crude and unpaved road, long since overgrown with jungle life. In the grass off to one side was a metal sign, partially rusted, but I could still make out what it said: '**PRIVATE PROPERTY NO TRESSPASSING. VIOLATORS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT**'.

I followed along the road and the trees thinned into a small clearing. Off to one side, a concrete runway was still intact, though in some places, plants had forced their way through, cracking the pavement and slowly absorbing it into the ecosystem. In the other direction was another road and I followed along, aware of sinister noises around me. There was the whine of a generator, faint but obvious; as well as a rhythmic _thumping_ in the distance, which grew steadily quieter.

I wanted to curl up in a corner somewhere and wait for someone to rescue me, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. I was alone.


	15. Part 2, Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

**You have once again entered the world of survival horror. **

**Good luck.**

The battery in my watch had long since died, but I knew it was sometime close to six or seven. The sky through the canopy above was beginning to take on the colors of sunset and I had been following the road for awhile, eventually coming to what looked like a gas station. There was a garage, the large doors left open, with an old gas pump in front. Next to that was a small General store, old and worn from years of neglect and as the door was open, I stepped inside, overwhelmed by the heavy amounts of dust and mold. Dim light filtered in through the dirty windows and I slid my sunglasses onto the top of my head.

The store was empty, save for a table and two chairs; large marks left behind in the dust. The place had been emptied recently.

I took a seat and reached into the backpack, remembering the things I had found on the boat. I took out the gun and the map; and found that it was a satellite photo of an island in high-definition... maybe even _this_ island. There were white serial numbers on the map, with lines pointing to various different shapes and at the bottom of the map; it read '**See Manual Index**'.

I removed the manual and flipped it open. The inside cover had a red and white octagonal logo with '**Umbrella Inc.**' typed in bold letters. Beneath that in smaller print, was the phrase '**The Future is Now**'.

I knew something about Umbrella; they were a Pharmaceutical Enterprise and had been the victim of scandal, back in '98. Things had been pretty quiet ever since and the company seemed to fade into the background.

But why resurface now?

I went to the index at the back and found the list of serial numbers. Water had marked most of the page, making it impossible to read most of what it said, but from the few I could read, I found that the serial numbers marked buildings on the Island.

A horrible moan outside drew my attention and a desiccated form stepped through the doorway, dragging one foot slightly. It wore a white lab-coat, streaked with blood and it raised its arms as it moved toward me, howling and hissing. It moved slowly and I grabbed the map, stuffing it into my pocket with one hand and grabbing the 9mm with the other. I could feel my hand shaking as I held the gun.

It was only a few feet away and I fired, hitting it in the chest. It shuddered from the impact but still stood, wailing hideously. I aimed and fired again, this time hitting it in the face, sending it backwards and out the door.

Frantic, I grabbed the backpack and left, stepping back into the sun and paused, looking around nervously.

Five more of the creatures were approaching from different directions. I shot the nearest of them and it fell, crawling to its feet shortly after.

Quickly I pulled the map from my pocket and saw that a large building was just a little farther down the road. I started to run but stopped, remembering the book I left on the table in the store. I turned to go retrieve it, but saw that more of the walking dead had come from the other side, cutting off my path to the store.

Cursing, I ran for the road, ducking past two staggering, rotted forms and around the bend while the moaning continued behind me. I came to a gate and dashed through, closing it behind me and sliding the bolt into place as _zombies_ gathered around on the other side, attempting to reach their mangled hands through the rusted bars.

The road led to a large, single story concrete building with a metal door. A sign next to it read '**DORMATORY**'.

I opened the door with some effort and stepped inside, panting from the heat and shaking with anxiety. The difference in hte humidity outside to the almost chilled interior made me shiver as the door shut behind me with a heavy clang.

The corridor was long and lit by a bank of neon lights, some of them flickering ominously. I felt apprehensive as I walked along, checking over my shoulder for more of the undead and my eyes shot from side to side nervously. Doors lined the hall on both sides and at the end I could see that the hall split in both directions, a small table set against the wall with a horribly painted vase tipped on its side.

I tried the door on my right, but it was locked and I continued on. They were all locked, save for one which I opened; holding the 9mm in front of me.

It was a small room with a desk and chair, a bed, a bookshelf and a chest of drawers. An open door led into a bathroom and I could make out a woman's bloody form inside, on the floor. I walked over to the desk and picked up a memo sitting on top of a stack of papers.

_**Memo to staff: **_

_**From the desk of Randall Clarke.**_

_**Umbrella Inc. Assistant Chief of Research and Development**_

_**Re: Rumors**_

_In recent days there have been rumors of cannibalism and misuse of company resources. These reports are unsubstantiated and should be considered false. There are no unconventional experiments being conducted and any reports of 'zombies' eating staff members are purely the imaginative products of individuals working long hours._

_On another note, Laboratory Sub-Levels 4-6 are off limits until further notice from Quarantine Officials, as detailed in the Biohazard contingency._

I tossed the memo aside and opened the desk's drawer. Inside was a white plastic card with the red and white Umbrella logo and '**Level 3 Security Clearance'** typed on one side. I pocketed the card-key and stepped back into the hall.

I turned and stopped, a black-clad person with a gas mask pointing an assault rifle at me. "Drop your weapons and get down on the ground!"

"What's going on?"

The uniformed soldier didn't answer, only shouted his demand again and slammed me against the wall. I slid to the ground and dropped the 9mm at his feet and un-shouldered the rifle slowly. "Hey! I'm not a zombie!"

He moved to my side and pushed me back, away from the dorm's open door and into the middle of the hall. "Put your hands on your head, shut up and stay where you are."

Waves of confusion and fear washed over me and a hint of movement tried to draw words from my throat. Before I could warn him, the soldier hit me again and when I looked up, the woman who had been on the floor in the bathroom reached for him and sunk her teeth into his neck; causing him to curse as she tore a large chunk away. The soldier spun and opened fire with the automatic, sending the vaguely female form tumbling backward in a heap before he grabbed at his own neck and fell. Blood streamed from under his gloved hand and gathered on the tile floor beneath him.

I crawled over to him but he pushed me back. "There's nothing you can do."

I tried to insist, but the soldier ignored me and removed his gas mask, tossing it down the hall. For a brief moment he met my gaze, then dropped his focus back down to the floor.

He threw down the automatic and un-holstered his sidearm, sticking the barrel in his mouth and pulling the trigger before I could shout anything in protest. A feeling of horror came over me and I collapsed against the wall, pulling my knees in.


	16. Part 2, Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: **

**You have once again entered the world of survival horror.**

**Good luck.**

It had all happened so fast.

It hadn't registered, until the soldier had pulled the trigger, spraying the wall behind him with thick red and strands of black. I shook my head in confusion – paralyzed by what I had been forced to watch.

His injury surely could've been treated. He could've lived.

After a few minutes I stood and forced myself to go on, retrieving my things and finally continuing down the hall around the bend. A door marked '**SECURITY**' was ajar and I stepped inside. On a desk against the far wall was a black carry-all, which must have belonged to the soldier.

Looking through it I found a portable computer, a stack of files, a spare clip for a 9mm which I put in my bag and a small, metal canister. Next to the carry-all was a black, square device which I flipped open, revealing an LED counter. The counter read **05:26:22**and counted down.

I removed the files and started sifting through them, taking note of the obvious '**CONFIDENTIAL**' across the front of every folder. Most of the folders bore the Umbrella logo; and one of the folders was boldly titled '**BIOHAZARD CONTINGENCY**' which I flipped open.

_**In the event of viral contamination and in accordance with security protocol, steps will be taken to ensure that there will be no spread of infection. **_

_**If a Level 6 viral breach occurs, Security Quarantine will be initiated for decontamination. All employees on Level 6 six within 4 hours of breach will be considered infected and access to surface will be denied until BASIC Quarantine measures are complete.**_

_**If any Level 5 breach occurs, all access to Lab Levels 4-6 is prohibited, Security Lockdown will be initiated and anyone on those Levels are to be considered infected and denied access to surface until Biohazard Response Team can complete decontamination. Decontamination will last 48 hours, at which time Emergency Evacuation is required. See Evac Protocol for details.**_

_**Once decontamination reaches completion after 48 hours, Biohazard Contingency is initiated. At this time there will be 12 hours until detonation of Low Yield Thermal Warhead. During this period, the door to the Main Lab will only allow for entry. Secondary route must be used to exit. At T-Minus, 01:30:00 Main Power will be rerouted to the Auxiliary Capacitor to prepare for detonation. At this time only the Backup Generator will be operational.**_

My stomach heaved as I realized what the counter indicated and I had just over five hours to get off the Island. I slipped the counter into my bag and quickly looked over more of the folders... hoping that they would explain what was going on.

Another folder was titled '**ORDERS**' and I flipped it open, noticing that it didn't have the Umbrella company logo like the others.

_**Retrieve files about T-virus.**_

_**Retrieve files about research.**_

_**Retrieve T-virus sample.**_

_**Retrieve T-anti-virus sample. **_

_**In the event of exposure to T-virus, and depending on the severity of the wound(s) inflicted, survival may be improbable.**_

I picked up the metal canister and examined it, twisting the top as a set of black arrows indicated. There was a _click _and the top slid away, revealing two thin cylinders.

"Oh shit," I muttered, closing the lid and setting the container on the desk.

I sifted through the files, looking for the Evac Protocols, but found them to be missing and I let out a groan of fear and frustration.

I put the files into my bag and shouldered it once again, leaving the Security Office. The other side of the fork led to the cafeteria and a dead end, so I left; stepping back into the sun and the thick humidity of the jungle.


	17. Part 2, Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: **

**You have once again entered the world of survival horror. **

**Good luck.**

The map indicated that a river flowed through the Island's interior, alongside an access road that led to the Lab; and so I found myself walking towards it, hearing the roar of the rapids off in the jungle. I had to take my chances with the river, it being too dangerous to take the access road… not to mention it'd take all night to get to the Lab, which seemed to be my best hope to escape.

After a short distance through the underbrush, on an infrequently marked path, I came to a concrete shed with a large sliding door, made of corrugated metal. The river ran behind the shed, with a small wooden dock leading down to the water.

With a groan I tried to slide the shed's door open, but to no avail. It was after a few tries that I found an access panel, hidden by some vines and flipped a switch.

I could hear gears groan and creak and the door began to slide away, revealing a rubber raft, a can of fuel and other odds and ends inside.

I stepped into the shaded structure and found that the raft's motor had recently been fueled and started to drag it outside, when something hanging on the wall caught my eye. I smiled, hefting the flamethrower off the wall and slipped my arm through the strap, before continuing to drag the boat to the dock.

Sweat beaded on my forehead and my arms burned from the strain of moving the raft until finally the small vessel splashed into the water, with me climbing in shortly after.

The sun lowered in the sky, which darkened to a deep blue and I could make out the faint shine of the stars through the canopy. The current flowed in the direction I needed to go and for awhile I just sat back, enjoying the first moment of calm, since I had arrived.

Up ahead in the night, I spotted a fork in the river and remembered from the map that I needed to go to the right. I turned and pulled the rip-cord on the motor, but it only sputtered in protest.

The current began to speed up and I tirelessly tried again, but the engine only coughed, defying me. I hadn't thought to bring oars and dipped my arms into the water, attempting to paddle, but found it useless – the current much too strong. It pulled the boat to the left, into rapids and away from where I needed to go. The jungle suddenly felt more humid and I looked up, seeing thick clouds roll in, obscuring the stars with amazing speed and grace.

Rain drops spattered on the rubber raft and I slumped back, trying to relax, when a distant noise caused me to worry and the cold chill of panic returned. It was faint and at first I thought it was just the incoming storm, but as I drifted quickly down the river I could clearly make out the roar of a waterfall.

I tried to steer closer to shore, but the boat refused to cooperate, trapped in the massive pull of the falls.

Rain hammered down and soaked into my soul; and a flash of lightning only added to the feeling of desperation that I felt. I tried to paddle away, tried to bring myself closer to the shore and my arms burned from the effort.

Thunder ripped through the world and the raft bucked -- and suddenly the world tilted and spun.

I felt myself fall, the raft somehow above me, water from the falls pelting my face. Time seemed to slow down; and I was overcome with a sense of peace. Then there was a shock, as I crashed down into the water at the bottom feet first, suddenly engulfed in chaos. I struggled to fight my way to the surface and with a frantic gasp, breached the frothing abyss, choking and coughing.

Tired and shaken up, I crawled to the shore; pulled myself up the muddy slope and collapsed.

In a flash of lightning, I spotted the lip of the raft next to a path that seemed to lead behind the waterfall. I stood on quivering legs and limped over to it, finding that my backpack, the rifle and the flame-thrower had also fallen nearby, under the cover of the trees and away from the drenching storm and without pause I recovered them.

A thunderous crash caused me to spin and a monstrous form exploded from the pool's depths. It crawled from the water on four slimy legs and parted a deadly set of jaws in a chaotic and ferocious bellow. I was filled with a morbid curiosity, beaten only by the terror I felt; staring at the eel-like creature that wriggled towards me.

I turned and ran for the path, glancing over my shoulder briefly and ignited the flamethrower.

I stopped and spun, spraying a plume of fire over the beast's toothed face and drawing out a hideous shriek of pain. I ran farther up the path and spotted a small canister, underneath a sign that read '**FUEL STORAGE B**'.

I snatched the red container with one hand as the beast returned and tossed it into the creature's gaping maw, showering it in fire a moment later.

With a burst of orange and blue the canister exploded, the force throwing me backwards and into a metal door. I could hear noises all around me as I fell to the ground, pain pounding the back of my skull like a hammer.

Slowly I focussed on my surroundings, the chaos dwindling and caught the horrible smell of burning flesh as the beast smoldered, its skin charred and the top of its head missing.

The whir of a generator was almost deafening, battling with the waterfall's chaotic roar and the rhythmic crashing of the storm. When I could stand again, I turned to the metal door and pushed it open, stepping through and closing it tightly behind me.

I was in a tunnel, carved out of the rock and lit by intermittent electrical lights that hung from the ceiling, casting an eerie glow over the metal catwalk. At the end of the tunnel was a set of narrow double-doors, with '**POWER ROOM**' stenciled on the metal.

I limped over to the doors, flipped one of the latches and moved inside, turning my body to fit through the opening with a groan of pain.

The room inside was roughly a square, with a massive generator occupying the center. Over the hum of the electronics I could hear something else… something faint… hoarse.

It sounded like laboured breathing.

I clutched the flamethrower tightly, the pilot light glowing blue in the dimly lit room. My footsteps were silent on the metal gratng and I was suddenly aware of a _ticking_ sound.

It was echoing through the metal catwalk and it was getting closer.

Slowly I crept forward, nearing a bend in the path, leading around the main generator and the _ticking_ sound stopped.

The raspy breathing continued, closer than before.

I carefully turned the corner and stopped, it was right there… and the sight of it sent shivers all through my body. Red fibrous muscle covered its body and its roughly human shape had arms and legs ending with sharp claws; that it tapped against the metal spastically.

It was the face that I couldn't look away from... or what seemed to once have been a face.

Its brain sat exposed, above a mouth full of dagger-like teeth.

It cocked its eyeless head and screeched, stretching a long tongue, with a needle-like point, which it whipped around, frantically. Its whole body rippled as it moved, withdrawing the deadly tongue and slowly stalking towards me.

With a burst of speed, it whipped its tongue at me and I stumbled back, the slimy appendage missing me narrowly.

I hit the metal grating and brought the weapon up, casting a shower of flame outwards at the creature and it gave out a terrifying shriek, as it darted up the wall, digging its massive claws into the rock.

I followed it along, spraying fire around it, but lost it as it scrambled into an air-vent, high above.

I saw the door ahead and ran for it, ducking through and slamming it behind me with a gasp of shock and shaking with fear.

I was in another tunnel, with a few steps leading down. I could hear water dripping and when I stepped down into the near darkness, I was shocked with a rush of cold, as I stumbled into tepid, waist-deep water.

I took a few steps forward and the flamethrower's pilot light went out, the fuel tank empty.

I tossed the useless weapon aside and waded forward, then stopped. Something disturbed the water behind me, sending small waves crashing against my legs. I felt sweat dripping down my face, in spite of the horrible cold and moved forward in the dark.

A crash in the water caused me to shudder and sweat streamed down the side of my face. I stood as still as I could, hearing the creepy breathing of the tongued-thing and slowly reached into my backpack, feeling for the handle of a gun. My fingers brushed over cold metal and I gripped it tightly, silently withdrawing it.

In the pitch darkness the creature screeched again and my hand snapped up, the gun held firmly.

As it loudly splashed toward me I fired, shocked by the sudden crimson glow that filled the room; a ball of fire streaking through the dank tunnel at the creature that forced me to squint. The red-hot flare struck the creature and it howled in pain, falling back into the water, red fire spewing from its horrible mouth.

Terrified, I fought through the water and rounded a corner and came to another series of steps up to a door and pulled it open to pass through. It took me up a long flight of stairs to another door and stepped out, once again into the harsh tropical storm.


	18. Part 2, Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**You have once again entered the world of survival horror.**

**Good luck.**

I was running in the darkness, blinded by the rain and a sudden flash of lightning disoriented me. I stumbled slightly and slipped, sliding down a muddy hill; wet vegetation slapping at my face and body.

I splashed loudly into a puddle at the bottom and shuddered with another crash of thunder. Lightning flashed a brilliant white, illuminating the hideous forms of half a dozen gnarled creatures; reaching for me in the near pitch-darkness. I rolled and scrambled loudly over the wet ground, submerged up to my elbows in warm rainwater as the zombies followed.

I could hear the grotesque moans behind me and didn't dare look back, taking the effort to stand and climb back up the hill, rolling over the ground and running, trying to get my bearings. I was back on a path that led past a warehouse, coming finally to a concrete bunker with its door set a foot below ground, a card-reader beside it. I swiped the Key I had found and a light blinked, a series of locks releasing, allowing me access inside.

The door swung open and I was immediately overcome by the stench of rotting flesh. There were three zombies in the bright, neon-lit descending corridor and I hefted the rifle, taking aim at the first as it turned slowly towards me. I fired and the creature's head exploded from the bullet's impact, spraying red goo over the walls before the body finally crumpled to the floor. I took a couple steps inside and fired at the next, hitting it in the chest and sending it flailing backward.

The automatic door swung shut behind me with a loud _clang_ and I turned, finding that a display flashed the message '**Use Alternate Exit**'.

A moaning zombie caused me to turn back and I fired, decapitating the hideous form with a loud burst, before continuing down – charged with the rush of adrenaline and a will to survive. I stepped over the creature that I had shot in the chest and cringed at the bloody, gaping hole; when suddenly it grabbed my ankle, pulling itself closer. Terror gripped me and I thrust the rifle's barrel downward into its skull with a crunchy splattering of gore. The barrel hit the metal floor hard and I cursed, not having the sense to have used the butt.

I examined the end of the weapon and swore, tossing it onto the incapacitated corpse when I saw that the barrel was bent. "Fuck you, you rotting son of a bitch! Dammit!"

I un-slung my backpack and opened it, looking through its contents and swore again. "Fuck!" The gun was missing.

Slowly I crept onward entering the Administration Office and paused when a sound off to one side startled me.

A man lay up against the wall with blood seeping from a wound in his shoulder.

"What happened?" I asked, kneeling next to him, tossing my bag to the ground.

He struggled to focus on me and with labored breathing, shifted his position slightly. "Who are you?"

"My name's Jamie," I said, "I'm just trying to get outa here. _What's_ going on?"

He gasped in pain, then took a shallow breath. "I'm Tom Fuller, a Lab Assistant to Randall Clarke. He shot me."

I reached into my backpack and pulled out the first aid kit, tending to the injured man's wound as best I could.

"Dr. Clarke sabotaged the Lab… caused the accident."

"Why?"

He took a deeper breath and continued. "To get the T-Virus. The only way he could pull it off was to rig a viral breach. While everyone evacuated, his team could come in and take what they wanted."

He reached forward and grabbed my arm tightly. "You have to get out of here. There isn't much time."

"I know," I said, "I know about the countdown."

"No! It's worse… If Main Power cuts out, the Lab won't be secured."

"What do you mean?"

He paused for a moment before going on. "There's something down there… in containment. Level 6 is in lockdown… no one can get in. But when the Backup power comes on… _IT _can escape."

Suddenly this was sounding _really_ bad. "What can escape?"

"The current experiment. We call it GX-001. It was our attempts to recreate the G-Virus."

"G-Virus?"

"It's a long story. All you need to know is that it's far more dangerous than anything else here."

"How do we get out of here?"

"There's a Chinook Helicopter waiting to evacuate anyone else. But it'll only wait until 1 hour before detonation. After that, there's no way off the Island."

"Well then," I said, helping Tom to stand awkwardly, "we'd better get going."

We moved to a door and I swiped the card I had found through the reader. With the hiss of pneumatics, the door raised into the ceiling, revealing the black-clad form of a Soldier, leveling an assault rifle at us. "Hold it!"

Suddenly the lights died and I lunged forward in the dark, dropping the backpack and striking the Soldier with my body, knocking him off balance and pulling the weapon from his grip.

"Hey," he shouted, but before he could do anything, he screamed in the darkness as something grabbed him from behind. I heard the wet tearing of flesh and I squeezed the trigger, illuminating the corridor in bursts of yellow; tearing the two zombies apart in a chaotic strobe of gunfire.

A female voice came over the Intercom as small blue lights lit our path. "1 hour, 30 minutes until detonation. 30 minutes remaining, for complete Evacuation. I repeat, 30 minutes remaining, for complete Evacuation."

From one of the wall vents, I heard the horrible _ticking_ of clawsand looked up, seeing the grate fall away. From the gaping hole in the wall, one of the tongued-creatures emerged; whipping its ferocious tongue around. It clambered into the corridor, digging its talons into the metal of the ceiling; and flicked its long, impaling appendage out at us.

I ducked to one side, feeling the slimy appendage brush past me and I opened fire, hearing the creature let out a gurgling shriek – intermittently punctuated by the spray from the automatic.

With a final scream it fell from its overhead perch and hit the floor with a wet thud, thrashing wildly and laying still a moment later.

"Now what the fuck is _that_ thing? Is that your 'GX-001'?"

Tom shook his head. "We call it a 'Licker'. It's deadly, but nothing compared to the GX."

We moved quickly down the corridor and rounding a bend, came to an Elevator. Tom pressed the switch and after a few seconds the doors opened, a zombie reaching out, snarling frantically. I squeezed off a burst of rounds and the creature fell, allowing us to get aboard the lift.

The zombie twitched and tried to stand, but the Elevator's doors came together, closing on its torso with a sickening crunch and letting the lower half of its body fall to the floor, smearing red over the doors as it did.

The Elevator stopped on Level 3 and the doors opened into another corridor, lit by the same eerie blue lights as above. The smell of decay was heavy; and grotesque forms shuffled and staggered towards us, hissing and growling over the emergency alarm.

"This way," Tom said, pulling me to the right. "Just past these offices is the Evac tunnel."

We moved fast and I sprayed bullets at the creatures in our path, cutting our way through the crowd of death as they reached for us.

The Evac tunnel was open, with rows of blue lights, streaming down its length and leading us toward our escape. We ran as fast as we could manage, stopping briefly while I dispatched a walking corpse that blocked our path; and made it into a large open room.

It had an open ceiling and I could see the dark storm clouds parting, revealing the starry sky. A cargo Helicopter sat in waiting, its twin rotor-blades spinning.

Armed guards stood outside the Main Hatch, bearing Umbrella's logo and ushered us onboard.

"There's no one else," Tom told them, "we're the last ones."

We were led into the passenger cabin and took seats, buckling ourselves in carefully. The Chinook _lurched_ suddenly as we lifted off, shaking again as we made our way from the Lab complex.

I turned to Tom who winced from the pain in his shoulder. "Where will this take us?"

He thought for a moment before answering. "A private airstrip in Costa Rica."

I nodded and rested back against the cargo net behind me as the Helicopter took us back to civilization.


	19. Part 2, Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

**You have once again entered the world of survival horror.**

**Good luck.**

After a lengthy ride we landed, the twin engines slowing down. The two guards returned to the cabin and opened the hatch for us, letting us out onto the deserted landing pad.

"What will you do now?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

Tom shrugged. "I don't know. Probably get a job here somewhere. I don't think anyone in the Science community will hire me now. What about you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. My backpack had information about what was going on here… but that's all on the island."

We were being directed to a large metal door when a thunderous crash caused us to spin.

The Helicopter's rear end exploded and in the fading smoke a monstrous form emerged. It was eight feet tall with massive claws on its hands and feet; and its smooth skin was black with the bluish shine of an oil-slick.

Its eyes glowed white, above a noseless face that still held slightly human characteristics; and it slowly… gracefully moved towards us.

The two guards opened fire on the abomination, but it merely stood in silence.

With the fury of a nuclear blast it parted its black lips and roared, revealing needle-like teeth -- and with a shocking blur of movement, raced to the guards; making two swift swipes of its massive talons, and cutting them each in half.

My stomach felt light and my knees threatened to give way. I turned to the heavy, metal door and paused in a fright when I saw that it required an access key.

I turned back and saw the GX-creature slowly lumbering towards us. Tom panicked and ran one way as I ran the other, circling back around the helicopter. I stepped inside through the smoldering hole in the rear and made my way to the front.

In the floor of the cargo hold was a massive hole, undoubtedly from the monster's entry and I carefully stepped around it, noticing a metal crate against the wall.

A large cautionsymbol marked it and when I flipped the latch, it opened to reveal a Rocket Launcher.

I hefted the olive green weapon onto one shoulder, turning off the safety and stepped back out onto the landing pad.

The GX had Tom backing into the far corner, preparing its terrifying assault.

"Hey Fuckhead!"

The GX snapped its head around and roared once more, taking off into a run straight for me with its claws held out to either side. In an instant it halved the distance between us and at the last moment jumped, launching itself at me.

I fired.

The rocket streaked forward with a trail of smoke and hit the creature in mid-air, exploding in a chaotic flash of fire; and chunks of matter. When the smoke cleared, there was only the sound of the fires around us; and nothing remained of the genetic monstrosity.

Tom ran over to one of the dead guards and went through his pockets, cheering loudly when he found the key. I dropped the heavy weapon and ran shakily over to him as he turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

We stepped into a white corridor, instantly approached by men in silver hazard-suits. I tried to run past them, but something hit me hard on the back of the neck.

As I drifted into unconsciousness, I could vaguely hear them talking. "Let's move them to the Institute in Cedar Hill."


End file.
